Eero Nelimarkka

Eero Nelimarkka is known as a painter of the landscapes of South Ostrobothnia, but he was also particularly skilled in portraying people. Nelimarkka’s work includes a large number of diverse characterful portraits, as well as many self-portraits.

There is an ambiguous strangeness in the artist’s interesting compositions, which feature characteristics of magical realism. The subjects of the paintings are quite simple – a pair of shoes left on the floor, or a pile of hats – but there is a sense that the compositions include many meanings. There is something inexplicable in the works, the presence of which the viewer can only sense.

This will be the first exhibition of Nelimarkka’s work to be staged at the Ateneum that comprehensively presents the artist’s career. In addition to the paintings, the exhibition features a small number of drawings and photographs of Nelimarkka’s life. In addition to works from the Finnish National Gallery collection, the exhibits include extensive loans from museums and private collections across Finland.

Nelimarkka’s marriage to Saima Alaviitala from Alahärmä in 1918 gave him access to a prosperous farming community in South Ostrobothnia. From 1933, Nelimarkka lived in the Lallukka Artists’ Home in Helsinki. In 1964, the artist himself founded the Nelimarkka Museum in Alajärvi, designed by the architect Hilding Ekelund. Today, the museum operates as a regional art museum for South Ostrobothnia.

The curator of the exhibition is the director of collections management at the Finnish National Gallery, Riitta Ojanperä. The exhibition will be complemented by the publication of an extensive exhibition catalogue in Finnish, Swedish and English, edited by the chief curator at the Ateneum, Marja Lahelma. The publication of the exhibition catalogue is supported by the Nelimarkka Foundation. The Nelimarkka Museum, the South Ostrobothnia Art Museum, is a partner of the exhibition.