The Finnish art patron Sara Hildén donated her collection to her eponymous foundation in 1962. In the years since, the Sara Hildén Foundation has been augmented systematically by expert curators, but the initial spark that gave the project its birth was Hildén’s personal passion for art.
Today it comprises over 5,000 works and ranks among Finland’s most extensive and prestigious collections of modern and contemporary art. Highlights include world-famous names such as Joan Miró, Francis Bacon, Paul Klee and Alberto Giacometti, along with a wide-ranging sample of modern and contemporary art by Finland’s most renowned artists. The core collection consists of over 500 paintings by Erik Enroth dating from 1945-1963. An additional major subcollection was bequeathed by the graphic artist Pentti Kaskipuro.
The Sara Hildén Foundation has continued expanding the collection with recent acquisitions by artists such as Kiki Smith and Marcel Dzama. The collection’s permanent home is the Sara Hildén Art Museum, which is administered by the City of Tampere.
