Schjerfbeck X Nordea Art Foundation

Gallery 25.9.–8.11.2026

The exhibition Schjerfbeck x Nordea Art Foundation brings five works by Helene Schjerfbeck from the Nordea Art Foundation’s collection to the art museum. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to discover some of the lesser-known works by Schjerfbeck (1862–1946). Spanning almost the entirety of her artistic career, the works on display range from early history paintings to deeply introspective portraits.

The exhibition also features Silence (1907), one of Schjerfbeck’s most beloved works. The painting returned to Finland this spring from New York, where it was on display in the Helene Schjerfbeck exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met).

Collections held by Finnish art foundations are rarely exhibited, and research has shown that the works in these collections remain relatively unknown to the Finnish public. Yet they include many important works that form part of the canon of Finnish art history. The Schjerfbeck exhibition tour organised by the Nordea Art Foundation grew out of the foundation’s desire to make its collection more widely accessible.

Helene Schjerfbeck is one of the major figures in Finnish art history. Her early work had a significant impact on Finnish visual art, even though her artistic experiments were not always understood by her contemporaries. Wider recognition came only later in her life.

Schjerfbeck’s early works, such as At the Door of the Linköping Prison in 1600 (1882), painted when she was just 20 years old, represent the nineteenth-century traditions of Naturalism and history painting. At the time, historical subjects were generally considered part of a masculine sphere of experience and unsuitable for women. The young artist nevertheless boldly embraced historical themes in large-scale and ambitious works.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Schjerfbeck’s artistic path led towards an increasingly pared-down mode of expression. Her lines became more delicate, her colours more restrained, and her subjects more intimate, turning increasingly towards the depiction of inner life. She developed a distinctive modern style that is particularly evident in her portraits, including Silence, as well as in her self-portraits.

The works on display are At the Door of the Linköping Prison in 1600 (1882), Breton Girl (1883), Boy in Armour (1894), Silence (1907) and My Mother (1909).

Helene Schjerfbeck is one of Finland’s best-known artists internationally, and her work continues to resonate with audiences around the world. In recent years, her work has been exhibited not only at The Met in New York, but also in London, Germany and Japan. Finland’s Day of Visual Art is celebrated on 10 July, Schjerfbeck’s birthday.

Nordea Art Foundation

The Nordea Art Foundation is a non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting Finnish art and preserving the country’s artistic heritage. Its collection comprises more than 1,000 works of art and spans two centuries of Finnish visual art. The Nordea Art Foundation’s collection of works by Helene Schjerfbeck has been formed through the art collecting activities of Nordea and its predecessor banks.