Famous Finnish Artists & Painters

One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Touko Valio Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland, is remembered for his paintings of the human body and his depiction of homoerotic desire. In his later life, his struggle with emphysema made him switch from pencil to pastels.

Painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela developed a love for the Finnish countryside as a child and later depicted the beauty of the Finnish landscape through his works. Chiefly known for his illustrations of the epic Kalevala, he merged many artistic concepts such as outdoor painting and symbolism.

American-born Finnish graphic artist Tuulikki Pietila was associated with the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, as an educator for years. She was openly lesbian and worked on many Moomin collaborations with her partner Tove Jansson. She also penned many graphic arts books and was later awarded the Pro Finlandia medal.

Finland-Swedish painter Albert Edelfelt, one of the founders of Realist art movement, is best-remembered for his Realist approach towards art and his naturalistic style. Counted among the first internationally famed Finnish artists and regarded as a prominent artist of Golden Age of Finnish Art, Edelfelt created notable paintings like Boys Playing on the Shore and Pasteur's Portrait in his laboratory.  

Mauno Manninen was a Finnish painter, poet, and theatre director. He is best remembered for founding Intimiteatteri, one of Helsinki's most important theatres from 1949 to 1987. Mauno Manninen is also known as the son of the famous poet Otto Manninen.  

Modernist painter Helene Schjerfbeck is best-remembered for her realist-works and self-portraits, besides landscapes and still-lifes. She started with French-influenced realism and plein-air paintings and was later drawn towards portraits and still-life paintings. One of the most popular works of Schjerfbeck, whose birthday is celebrated in Finland as national day for the painted arts, is Dancing Shoes, done in Realist style.      

Finnish symbolist painter and graphic artist Hugo Gerhard Simberg was most noted for his paintings that were made on macabre and supernatural topics depicting gloomy and otherworldly scenes. Two of his most recognizable paintings include The Wounded Angel that was voted in 2006 by the Ateneum art museum as "national painting" of Finland; and The Garden of Death.  

One of Finland’s best-known painters, Eero Järnefelt is remembered for his stunning depictions of scenes around the Koli National Park. Apart from his landscapes such as Heinäkuun päivä and Raatajat rahanalaiset, he also painted portraits, such as Poikani. He was also an art professor at the University of Helsinki.

Wäinö Aaltonen was a Finnish sculptor and artist. He is best remembered as a nationalist icon who sculpted war memorials and sculptures of athletes and citizens of Finland. Among his most famous works is his bronze statue of Finnish athlete Paavo Nurmi. His works are exhibited at the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art in Finland.

Swedish-speaking Finnish illustrator and cartoonist Minna Sundberg was 25 when she became the first Finn to win a Reuben Award. Known for her works such as A Redtail's Dream and Lovely People, she is now devoted to Christianity and supports an online Christian bookstore on her website, Hummingfluff Studio.

Finnish architect, environmental-artist and architectural theorist Marco Casagrande gained critical attention producing architectonic installations with Finnish architect and artist Sami Rintala from 1998 to 2003 under their partnership Casagrande & Rintala, for venues of contemporary architecture and art across the globe. One of the most notable works of Casagrande & Rintala, which dissolved in 2003, is the Land(e)scape in Savonlinna  

Magnus Enckell was a Finnish painter who achieved immense popularity as a symbolist artist in Finland. An important member of the Septem group of painters, Enckell traveled widely and incorporated different styles into his paintings. Some of his best known works are Bacchant, Young Nude Male, Awakening Faun, and Boys on the Beach.