Seasons in Us

This exhibition illustrates the four seasons in nature, landscapes and our daily lives. The exhibition consists of 80 works, mainly paintings. The works have been selected from the nationally significant art holdings of the eleven member foundations of the Finnish Fine Art Foundations association that together hold more than 25,000 works. According to curator Elina Vieru, the works selected for the exhibition emphasise representational qualities and a certain concreteness, as many of the collections focus on older figurative art and the theme of the exhibition restricts the choices.

Approximately half of the works are dated before the 1950s while the other half is more recent. Older art from the 1870s to the early decades of the 20th century is represented by works by artists such as Ferdinand von Wright, Albert Edelfelt, Helene Schjerfbeck, Pekka Halonen, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Ellen Favorin and Helmi Biese that often depicts the Finnish nature in a way that is nostalgic for the contemporary viewer. In the works of contemporary artists such as Marika Mäkelä, Petri Hytönen, Joel Slotte and Anna Retulainen, the seasons are approached from the perspective of subjective states of mind and interpretation.

Oulu Art Museum wants to thank the Alfred Kordelin Foundation, Fortum Art Foundation, Föreningen Konstsamfundet, Gösta Serlachius Art Foundation, Lönnström Art Museum, Nordea Art Foundation, OP Group Art Foundation, Pro Artibus Foundation, Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation, UPM-Kymmene Cultural Foundation and Åbo Akademi Foundation for their cooperation.