Taidehalli history | Taidehalli

Kunsthalle Helsinki has been a central place for changing exhibitions since 1928. It was created because there were artists who needed a place to arrange changing contemporary art exhibitions in the Finnish capital.

There were a lot of different plans and location alternatives, but Kunsthalle Helsinki was eventually built on the Nervanderinkatu street in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki. The building was designed by the architects Jarl Eklund (1876–1962) and Hilding Ekelund (1893–1984) on the basis of the 1927 invitational competition. The Kunsthalle Helsinki Foundation was established in 1927 to look after the construction of the building, which is still owned by the foundation.

As the first director of Kunsthalle Helsinki, Bertel Hintze (1901–1969), an art critic, a researcher, and an art expert, was starting a new kind of art institution in Finland. He led Kunsthalle Helsinki until 1968 when he retired. Since then, Kunsthalle Helsinki has been led by Seppo Niinivaara in 1968–1994, Timo Valjakka in 1994–2001, Maija Tanninen-Mattila in 2001–2006, and by the current director Maija Koskinen since 2006.

Kunsthalle Helsinki was inaugurated on 3 March 1928 together with the opening of a comprehensive Finnish art exhibition.

Kunsthalle Helsinki could not have been created without the support and donations from the business world and the patrons of the time. The building project received significant support from Industrial Counsellors Gösta Serlachius and Salomo Wuorio and from Amos Anderson, editor-in-chief. The supporters were later joined by Jalo Sihtola, an engineer. The picture is from the inauguration of the building.

During its history, Kunsthalle Helsinki has presented central Finnish artists of the various movements, from Juho Rissanen and Helene Schjerfbeck (whose memorial exhibtion of 1954 is pictured here) to Sam Vanni and Reidar Säreistöniemi. There were also some Finnish artist groups, such as Prisma and the November Group, arranging exhibitions in Kunsthalle Helsinki during the 20th century.

Foreign contemporary art exhibitions, for instance the 1952 Klar Form exhibition of French contemporary art (pictured), were important to the development of the Finnish arts.

Many visitors remember the 1990s exhibitions of Andy Warhol (1997) or Alvar Aalto (1998). The most popular exhibitions of the 21st century have been those of Kaj Stenvall (2000), Anish Kapoor (2001), Maaria Wirkkala (2002), Helmut Newton (2004), Marlene Dumas (2005, pictured), Mari Rantanen (2007), or Karin Mamma Andersson (2007).

Artists especially remembered for their design and architecture exhibitions are Arne Jacobsen (2002), Eero Aarnio (2003, pictured), and Eero Saarinen (2006).

Helsinki’s art life has gone through major changes in eighty years, but Kunsthalle Helsinki has maintained its position as the place where young artists can make their breakthroughs and recognized masters can have comprehensive retrospective exhibitions. Kunsthalle Helsinki has become a home for living art, a place where artists, researchers, and art-lovers meet each other.