Marja Helander: Hidden from Day, 2018, photograph primed on aluminium, 87 x 131 cm. Photograph: Mika Friman.

Oulu Art Museum Collection

The Oulu Art Museum Collection focuses on works by artists who are or have been active in the Oulu and North Ostrobothnia region. The collection also includes many kinds of domestic art, mainly from the 1900s to the 2000s, with a focus on contemporary art.

The oldest works in the collection are two portraits painted by Oulu-born artist Isaac Wacklin in 1755. An important artist in the collection is Vilho Lampi, a painter from Liminka. Thanks to purchases and donations, the museum has the largest Vilho Lampi collection in Finland, 80 works.

Special themes of the collection are self-portraits, the northern dimension and naïve art, the accumulation of which began with a donation from the Heinänen Art Foundation in 1987. Collection acquisitions are also determined by research and exhibition needs. The museum does not have a permanent main exhibition, but works from the collection are displayed in collection exhibitions and other exhibitions produced by the museum. Artworks are also loaned to other museums for exhibitions.