Free Art School’s 90th anniversary exhibition at HAM is a celebration of painting

The Free Art School was founded in 1935 on the initiative of art world influencer and patron Maire Gullichsen to offer an alternative to academic art education. Modelled after the “free academies” of Paris, the Free Art School was a champion of modern painting in Finland from its very beginning. The school has evolved from concretism and pure abstract colour painting towards the diversity of contemporary painting.

“Perhaps the most challenging part of exhibition planning was the school’s history. It was astounding to discover how many major artists have studied at the school and taught there,” says Timo Valjakka, art critic and one of the exhibition’s curators.

The history of the Free Art School and the artists who studied and taught there are approached through Leonard and Katarina Bäcksbacka’s donated collection, which is the heart of HAM and the City of Helsinki’s art collection. In 1915, the Bäcksbackas established the art gallery Taidesalonki, which showcased the works of several artists involved in the Free Art School – artists whose works the couple also acquired for their collection.

“Instead of a fully chronological approach, the exhibition aims to find the common (or perhaps one might say colourful) thread binding together all nine decades of the school’s history. Perhaps we will discover the spirit of the Free Art School, something embedded within the works and still present today,” says Satu Metsola, curator at HAM. “Most of the works selected for this exhibition come from the museum’s own collections, supplemented by carefully chosen pieces on loan. Through the exhibition, we can begin to explore the roots of the school – roots from which new beginnings have grown, and continue to grow.”

Today, the Free Art School is located at the Cable Factory in Salmisaari, Helsinki. The school has around sixty students in a four-year preparatory course for painting profession.

“One of the school’s original key goals, the freedom of art education and artistic expression, has remained strong to this day. It is inspiring to think that the Free Art School, through its teaching, contributes to the preservation of painting as a rich, unique, and universal cultural heritage in Finland,” says Elina Merenmies, headmaster of the Free Art school.

The exhibition features 60 artworks by 39 artists, including Tor Arne, Päivi Björkenheim, Yngve Bäck, Erik Creutziger, Carolus Enckell, Torger Enckell, Maire Gullichsen, Hjalmar Hagelstam, Ester Helenius, Pekka Hepoluhta, Erkki Hienonen, Kauko Hämäläinen, Jani Hänninen, Tove Jansson, Auli Järvelä, Ole Kandelin, Erkki Kulovesi, Anitra Lucander, William Lönnberg, Elina Merenmies, Thomas Nyqvist, Mikko Oinonen, Paavo Paunu, Outi Pienimäki, Unto Pusa, Ilmari Rautio, Pekka Ryynänen, Janne Räisänen, Sigrid Schauman, Sulho Sipilä, Elga Sesemann, Per Stenius, Mari Sunna, Tapani Tamminen, Timo Valjakka, Sam Vanni, Rafael Wardi, Carl Wargh, and Reijo Viljanen.

The exhibition is curated by art critic Timo Valjakka and HAM curator Satu Metsola. You can learn more about the history of the Free Art School in the anniversary publication, Free Art School – Teaching Painting for 90 Years.

The exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Free Art School.

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Media representatives are welcome to visit the exhibition on 24 April at 13.00–15.00. The exhibition’s curators, Timo Valjakka and Satu Metsola, and the Free Art School’s Headmaster Elina Merenmies will be available for interviews. For more information and to register, please contact anna.vihanta@hamhelsinki.fi.