Opening Hours

Open daily 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

 

Guided Tours

Guided tours in English on following Sundays: 1 June, 6 July and 3 August at 2 p.m.

 

Presentation of the exhibition by curator Laura Gutman-Hanhivaara 25 May and 10 August at 1.00 p.m (in English).

 

 

The Gallen-Kallela Museum's summer exhibition leads visitors to Paris in the 1880s and the Académie Julian, where Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Eero Järnefelt and Emil Wikström studied art. It was at the academy that they met Henry de Vallombreuse (1856–1919), a French count, who in addition to his aristocratic background had a fascinating past as a soldier in service in the French Foreign Legion in Africa. The bohemian circle of friends included other Nordic artists – and impoverished aristocrats such as counts Louis Sparre and Nils Barck. Based on research by the French art historian Laura Gutman-Hanhivaara, this exhibition provides interesting new information on the friendship of Henry de Vallombreuse and Finnish artists, works created in Paris, and the main everyday influences of these fellow art students. 

The colourful street life of Paris with its cafés inspired Finns to depict a new and modern way of life. Parks and restaurants were scenes for fleeting encounters and the illustrated newspapers of the era opened up fresh perspectives for capturing this worldly atmosphere. City life was offset by joyous outings to the countryside, which had become fashionable because of good connections by rail. The companions travelled, among other destinations, to Veneux-Nadon and the village of Le Becquet in Normandy, where Henry de Vallombreuse owned a farmhouse. The exhibition features a few landscape paintings by Eero Järnefelt from these outings.

After the Finnish artists had returned home, the French count maintained his friendship with them, reporting by letter on the most recent events in the art world. The Autumn Salon of Paris in 1908 reunited the companions. In their later correspondence, Eero Järnefelt and Henry de Vallombreuse continued their discussion on the new colourism, which they had begun at the salon. The exhibition ends with Gallen-Kallela moving to Paris in late 1908 and his extensive preparations for his coming trip to Africa: "So it is true that Gallén is going to Africa! What an idea… I understand that strange things suit his temperament and may generate new themes for painting… But this trip to Africa will be very difficult, expensive and strenuous, with his children as luggage, what exactly does he have in mind?" (Eero Järnefelt in a letter to Henry de Vallombreuse, 9 May 1909)

Henry de Vallombreuse became known in Finland as a ceramic artist of the new Jugendstil or Art Nouveau style. Despite his dreams, he never visited the Nordic countries. An exhibition of his works was on show in 1910–1911 in Helsinki, Turku, Tampere and Viipuri. Eero Järnefelt was a background figure of the tour. The exhibition at Tarvaspää assembles for the first time works by Henry de Vallombreuse known from Finland, such as ceramic objects given to friends as gifts. The exhibited pieces are complemented by unique archive material along with paintings and drawings. The works on show include Gallen-Kallela's skilled Portrait of Berthe de Vallombreuse (1889).