Villa Gyllenberg to present rarely exhibited private art collection

From office walls to a public exhibition

The art collection of insurance company Sampo, founded in 1909, comprises over 1000 works, the oldest of which date back to the 1820s and the newest to the 1990s. The company has purposefully expanded the collection over the years, especially in the 1970s–1990s. In 2026, a small portion of the collection was sold to Mandatum.

“This is a really interesting collection, and it is a pleasure to exhibit it at Villa Gyllenberg,” says Lotta Nylund, curator of the exhibition and Chief Curator of Villa Gyllenberg. “Some of the works are on display at Sampo’s offices, but the majority are in storage. This exhibition is a unique opportunity to present the collection to a wider audience.”

The Sampo Collection was last exhibited publicly at Kunsthalle Helsinki in November-December 2017. At that time, the exhibition was open for five weeks only, but now the public has a little over four months to view A Glimpse of the Sampo Collection.

Golden Age gems and contemporary art

The exhibition at Villa Gyllenberg presents 19^th-century landscape paintings and gems from the Golden Age of Finnish art, as well as abstract art, paintings and sculptures from the 20^th century.

Included in the exhibition are works by popular artists such as Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Helene Schjerfbeck, Elin Danielson-Gambogi and Hjalmar Munsterhjelm, but also fine works by contemporary Finnish artists such as Saara Ekström, Paul Osipow and Inari Krohn.

“The importance of companies and private art collectors to the Finnish art scene has been enormous. Private collections contain a large number of art treasures that would not have been possible to purchase with public funds,” says Nylund. “Villa Gyllenberg is a museum that showcases the art collection and home of banker and businessman Ane Gyllenberg and his wife Signe Gyllenberg, and the couple worked hard to ensure that their collection would be available to the public. It therefore feels natural to present the Sampo Collection here.”

The exhibition will present works by the following artists:

Juhana Blomstedt, Yngve Bäck, Birger Carlstedt, Alvar Cavén, Elin Danielson-Gambogi, Robert Wilhelm Ekman, Saara Ekström, Carolus Enckell, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Axel Haartman, Pekka Halonen, Werner Holmberg, Kari Huhtamo, Inari Krohn, Matti Kujasalo, Lauri Laine, Berndt Lindholm, Ali Munsterhjelm, Hjalmar Munsterhjelm, Lars-Gunnar Nordström, Pirkko Nukari, Veikko Nuutinen, Paul Osipow, Tapani Raittila, Pekka Ryynänen, Tyko Sallinen, Helene Schjerfbeck, Jaakko Sievänen, Christina Snellman, Risto Suomi, Nina Terno, August Uotila, Sam Vanni, Rafael Wardi, Victor Westerholm, Ferdinand von Wright.

Contacts

Lotta Nylund, Chief Curator, lotta.nylund@gyllenbergs.fi, +358 40 576 1753

Siiri Oinonen, Head of Customer and Program Services, siiri.oinonen@gyllenbergs.fi, +358 40 825 4763 (image requests)

Opening hours

Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun 12–17

Admission

12 €, adults
10 €, pensioners, students
0 €, under 18-y, unemployed, Museum Card holders

Tour bookings

villa@gyllenbergs.fi

Address

Kuusisaarenpolku 11
00340 Helsinki