The Gallen-Kallela Museum is an art and cultural history museum dedicated to the art, architecture and influence of the artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela. The museum's collections tell the story of Gallen-Kallela's and his family's daily life, travels, interests and art.

The collections include works of art, artefacts, archival material, Akseli and Mary Gallen-Kallela's home library and buildings in the Tarvaspää area. The Gallen-Kallela Museum is a centre of information about Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

Browse our collections online (link to Finna)

Art Collection

The art collection highlights the career of Akseli Gallen-Kallela, from his childhood drawings to his last years. The collection includes around 115 oil paintings, over 550 drawings and sketches, and a near-complete collection of Gallen-Kallela's graphic works. Gallen-Kallela was interested in many different techniques. The collection includes applied graphics like posters, reliefs and sculptures, as well as decorative arts like furniture, textiles and stained glass. The collection also includes a number of works by other artists.

The Cultural History Collection

The Cultural History Collection is based on materials owned by Akseli Gallen-Kallela and his family. It reflects the everyday life of the family, the events of the artist's life and his interests. The Cultural History Collection includes the artist's tools, family utensils and personal objects such as clothes, toys, textiles and furniture.

The cultural history collection includes objects from different cultures collected by Gallen-Kallela. Gallen-Kallela collected ethnographical artefacts both at home and abroad. From his 1909–1910 trip to what is now Kenya, Gallen-Kallela brought back not only ethnographic objects but also natural history material such as animal skulls and horns.

Photo Collection

Akseli Gallen-Kallela photographed a lot. The photo collection of the Gallen-Kallela Museum includes photographs taken by Akseli Gallen-Kallela and members of his family and acquaintances. The collection includes personal and family photos, photos of acquaintances and friends, shots from his many trips to Europe, Africa and America, and photos of various family homes.

A large number of digitised historic photographs have been published on Flickr.

Archives

The Gallen-Kallela Museum has a wide range of archival material related to the artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela. The archive collection includes newspaper clippings, receipts, invoices, vouchers, brochures, personal documents and much more. The Gallen-Kallela Museum's collections include letters received by Akseli Gallen-Kallela and correspondence within the family.  The letters sent by Akseli Gallen-Kallela are, in most cases, in the archives of the recipients.

List of senders of letters received by Akseli Gallen-Kallela [link to pdf]

Akseli and Mary Gallen-Kallela's Home Library

Akseli and Mary Gallen-Kallela's home library reveals what the artist's family has read. It contains the works that belonged to the family (about 3500 volumes). The collection includes periodicals, art and science literature, domestic and foreign fiction, travel guides and exhibition catalogues.

Click here to view the library catalogue in pdf format.