The exhibition From the Beginning offers perspectives on the changes in Finnish visual art and the diversification of the means of representation. The exhibition explores, among other things, the following phenomena in visual art: geometric abstraction, which became an important trend in the 1950s; free-form informalism and its depictions of nature in the early 1960s; and the realistic trends of the 1960s and 1970s, which also included polemical art.
The exhibition takes a thematic approach to the art of the 21st century. There is a group of works on nature and the environment, a series of themes that introduce the finiteness of life and its darker shades, and a group of paintings and sculptures on the theme of translucency. The exhibition also includes works recently acquired for the collection.
The exhibition includes some of the most iconic works of Finnish art, such as Tyko Sallinen’s witty folk portrait Hihhulit (1918), Helene Schjerfbeck’s late delicate Portrait in a Dress (1938) and Kimmo Kaivanto’s renowned landmark When the Sea Dies II (1973).
The exhibition also includes works by artists such as Timo Aalto, Martti Aiha, Göran Augustson, Juhana Blomstedt, Kari Cavén, Carolus Enckell, Erik Enroth, Veikko Eskolin, Mauri Favén, Susanne Gottberg, Kaisaleena Halinen, Juhani Harri, Mauno Hartman, Jussi Heikkilä, Timo Heino, Reino Hietanen, Veikko Hirvimäki, Antti Immonen, Antti Jantunen, Tapio Junno, Kari Jylhä, Kaarina Kaikkonen, Harry Kivijärvi, Markku Kivinen, Matti Kujasalo, Ahti Lavonen, Kauko Lehtinen, Leo Lindsten, Juhani Linnovaara, Leena Luostarinen, Åke Mattas, Elina Merenmies, Jukka Mäkelä, Marika Mäkelä, Jarmo Mäkilä, Otto Mäkilä, Paul Osipow, Laila Pullinen, Kimmo Pyykkö, Vesa-Pekka Rannikko, Ulla Rantanen, Essi Renvall, Jaakko Sievänen, Arvo Siikamäki, Antti Tanttu, Marjatta Tapiola, Kain Tapper, Esko Tirronen, Toni R. Toivonen, Marianna Uutinen and Hannu Väisänen.
Sara Hildén (1905-1993) began her art collecting career in the domestic art scene. As early as the mid-20th century, she acquired a significant collection of domestic art by collecting a large number of works by her husband, Erik Enroth (1917-1975). The collection was later expanded to include a wide range of works by other Finnish and foreign artists. Today the Sara Hildén Foundation has a collection of more than 6,400 works of art. The collection of domestic art comprises almost 5,500 works by more than 300 artists and is still actively growing.
The exhibition From the Beginning is a continuation of the Sara Hildén Art Museum’s spring 2024 exhibition The Red Birds of the Green Tree, which presented key works from the foreign collection. The exhibition is complemented by a small exhibition of ceramics by Rut Bryk (1916-1999) at Café Sara.
