The exhibition Silent Beauty continues the themes of the popular Japanomania

Nordic and East Asian art share the idea of everyday beauty and a connection with nature  

The Silent Beauty exhibition juxtaposes visual art, ceramics, textile art and architecture from Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Japanese collections. The works display a simplified aesthetic: geometric shapes, sophisticated colours, and an appreciation of materials link the pieces exhibited. The exhibits include beautiful and functional everyday objects, such as sophisticated Asian ceramics and kimonos. The paintings, drawings and prints included in the exhibition feature abstract themes, as well as landscapes and still lifes. The exhibition will include some 250 works, of which approximately one third are from the Ateneum collection.

Silent Beauty – Nordic and East-Asian Interaction is a continuation of the exhibition Japanomania in the Nordic Countries 1875–1918, which was seen at the Ateneum in spring 2016. The popular exhibition prompted an examination of how the phenomenon continued in the 20th century, and what new forms it took. Where does the simplified Nordic aesthetic come from, and how is it connected to visual arts? Why does the Nordic aesthetic appeal particularly to East Asian people?

Silent Beauty specifically explores the two-way interaction between the cultures: East Asian art was also influenced by the Nordic aesthetic. Nordic artists, designers and architects travelled to Japan, and correspondingly, Japanese artists and designers travelled to Europe and the Nordic countries. Artists took influences from China and Korea, as well as Japan.    

The artists featured in the exhibition include Aulis and Heidi Blomstedt, Rune Jansson, Aimo Kanerva, Carl Kylberg, Maija and Ahti Lavonen, Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, Kyllikki Salmenhaara, Key Sato, Helene Schjerfbeck, Jaakko Sievänen and Zao Wou-Ki. The exhibition presents a large number of works from Japan, including from the Japan Folk Crafts Museum in Tokyo and the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama. Works are on loan from, for example, the Design Museum in Helsinki, the Gothenburg Museum of Art and the Moderna Museet in in Sweden, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.

The exhibition is curated by the curator Anne-Maria Pennonen and the chief curator Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff. The exhibition coincides with the release of a publication, in Finnish, Swedish and English, produced by the Ateneum 

Forthcoming from August to October: the Friends of the Ateneum centenary exhibition One Hundred Years of Friendship

Partly coinciding with Silent Beauty will be the Friends of the Ateneum centenary exhibition One Hundred Years of Friendship, from 15 August to 6 October 2019. In honour of the association’s centenary, the exhibition presents works of art donated and funded by the association. The exhibition shows, from different perspectives, how the collection has been formed, and how art has been acquired and sourced. The artists featured in the exhibition include Marcus Collin, Alexander Lauréus, Anitra Lucander, Helene Schjerfbeck and Hugo Simberg.The exhibition is curated by Hanne Selkokari, curator at the Ateneum Art Museum. 

Opening hours
Tue, Fri 10:00–18:00 | Wed, Thu 10:00–20:00 | Sat, Sun 10:00–17:00 | Mon closed

Admission
Adults €17 | Concessions €15 | Under 18s free admission

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