Colour & Light – The Legacy of Impressionism

Colour & Light introduces Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist art from the period 1860–1916. The exhibition shows top names in international art, such as Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley, side by side with artists from the heyday of Finnish Colourism.

  • 20.10.2023–25.2.2024
3rd floor
Tickets: with a museum ticket
An orchard bathng in sun.
Alfred William Finch: Orchard at La Louvière. National Gallery / Ateneum Art Museum. Photo: National Gallery / Hannu Aaltonen

Finnish and international masters side by side

The exhibition shows top names in international art side by side with artists from the heyday of Finnish Colourism, from 1906 to 1916. In Finnish art, the shift towards a brighter palette led to new subject matter, as work and wild nature gave way to the comforts of middle-class life, parks, sunbathing, and nudity.

Among the international artists included in the exhibition are Claude Monet, August Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Alfred William Finch, Paul Signac and Theo van Rysselberghe. Finnish artists included in the exhibition are Alvar Cawén, Antti Favén, Magnus Enckell, Pekka Halonen, Ellen Thesleff, Verner Thóme, Yrjö Ollila, Tyko Sallinen and Wilho Sjöström, among others.

The exhibition is curated by Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff, Chief Curator, Ateneum, and Marja Sakari, Museum Director, Ateneum. The exhibition project has, from the outset, also involved Professor Anthea Callen, an expert in international Impressionism.

Artworks at the exhibition