Blazing Sky exhibition to mark the opening of HAM’s new collection space

HAM’s new collection space is set to present its art collection, which belongs to all residents of Helsinki, in a more extensive and innovative way. The space is based on the Bäcksbacka collections, whose key artists include Mauno Markkula. In this new exhibition, Markkula’s works from the 1940s and 1950s enter into an interesting dialogue with Petri Ala-Maunus’s paintings from the 2010s and 2020s.

“This new, expanded collection space is a significant initiative for HAM. The Leonard and Katarina Bäcksbacka Collection forms the historic heart of our museum, and the Blazing Sky exhibition will offer visitors a brand new perspective on the art of the distinctive master of colour, Mauno Markkula. I am both grateful and thrilled with how Petri Ala-Maunus has been able to offer a fresh way of seeing Markkula’s work through his own art,” explains Museum Director Arja Miller with delight.

Landscape as a state of mind

Mauno Markkula (1905–1959) was one of the most distinctive and original artists of his era. His vibrant shades of red, yellow, and green earned the artist the nickname ‘colour mystic’. For Markkula, a landscape was an experience rather than a view. An avid walker and observer of nature, he rarely painted outdoors. His small, dense works depict inner visions – experiences that distilled slowly in his mind.

Petri Ala-Maunus (b. 1970) is known for his large-scale, detailed landscape paintings. He began painting landscapes at a time when the subject was considered rather old-fashioned, yet he recognised in it a means to explore intense human emotions: wonder, melancholy, and the pull of the sublime. His works do not depict specific places, but rather fictional landscapes, inspired by art history, encounters with nature, photographs, and record cover art.

“Separated by painting style, technique and half a century, both reach beyond visible reality, creating landscapes that evoke not a place but a state of mind. Skies blaze with vibrant colour, seas churn violently, and trees bend under turbulent winds. These are not windows onto the outside world – they are portals into colour-drenched, emotionally charged inner realms,” explains HAM’s Head of Exhibitions Kati Kivinen, who is also one of the exhibition’s curators.

Unprecedented works and dialogue between landscape paintings

The exhibition brings together 46 of Mauno Markkula’s paintings, some of which are now seen for the first time by the general public. Following Christina Bäcksbacka’s recent donation of a further 27 paintings by Markkula, the museum is now the custodian of Finland’s most substantial corpus of his artistic legacy, comprising a total of 56 works. Of the paintings in this latest donation, 12 are featured in the Blazing Sky exhibition.

For this exhibition, Petri Ala-Maunus painted a new series of almost 30 works inspired by Mauno Markkula. Rather than copying directly, Ala-Maunus approached Markkula’s paintings with a ‘sideways glance’, responding to their forms, rhythms, and planes of colour. Establishing a conceptual bridge, the titles and scales of his new works mirror Markkula’s originals.

The exhibition features three of Petri Ala-Maunus’s large-scale landscapes: from HAM’s collections the piece Übernatur (2013), the 12-metre-wide Pastoral Purgatory (2024), and Last Will (2025), which also features on the cover of Musician and Author Marko Annala’s novel Ylva, published last year.

The connection between the two artists can also be seen through their self-portraits. Mauno Markkula’s serious, dark-toned self-study from 1944 hangs alongside a long sequence of drawings in which Petri Ala-Maunus observes himself day after day. Ala-Maunus began his series of self-portraits in 2017. Over nine years, he has painted or drawn one every day.

The exhibition experience begins before the visitor even enters the collection space itself: in the foyer, visitors are greeted by a black and white landscape painted by Petri Ala-Maunus directly onto the wall, centring around Mauno Markkula’s piece Evening Sun.

The exhibition was curated by HAM’s Head of Exhibitions Kati Kivinen and HAM's Curator Aki Pohjankyrö.

The exhibition architecture was created by Kristian Palmu.

Produced with support from the Finnish Heritage Agency.

INVITATION to the media – Blazing Sky

Media representatives are invited to explore the exhibition on Wednesday 11 March at 11:00–12:30. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet artist Petri Ala-Maunus and the exhibition’s curators, Kati Kivinen and Aki Pohjankyrö, during the event.

Location: HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Eteläinen Rautatiekatu 8

Registrations: By Tuesday, 10 March, by 2 PM: anna.vihanta@hamhelsinki.fi