Photographic materials
Photographs of works of art make up the bulk of our collection of more than 700,000 original photographs. The collection also includes prints, invitation cards and posters, as well as visual material related to artists and the world of art.
The oldest photographs in our collection date from the 1860s. This was the time when the Finnish Art Society began to acquire photographs of works of art. The collection is constantly growing, thanks to our in-house documentation activities. The Finnish National Gallery also receives donations from private individuals and organisations.
You can explore the images at kokoelma.kansallisgalleria.fi/en.
For more information about the rights to use images for publication, research, and other purposes, contact our Photographic service.
Documents
The documents in our archive contain information on the history of Finnish visual arts and the Finnish National Gallery.
The sets of archival materials are mainly private archives. Private archives have been formed as artists, groups of artists, museum workers, associations and various art institutions have stored documents. Collections that have been formed while documenting visual arts are also included in the archive collections.
Materials are constantly being added to our document archive. Most accessions are donations or the result of our in-house documentation activities.
Documents in the archive are available for use by researchers at the Ateneum Art Museum library. Some sets of archival materials have usage restrictions. To use the materials, place an order and make an appointment in advance.
You can access basic information on archival materials at kokoelma.kansallisgalleria.fi/en.
Press cuttings
Press cuttings and scrapbooks compiled from these cuttings provide a window into the world of art and artists of the past. The press articles in the archive mainly deal with Finnish art and artists since the 1890s. The oldest materials were compiled by J.J. Tikkanen, the secretary of the Finnish Art Society.
Some of the press cuttings have been microfilmed. You can explore the materials at the Ateneum and Kiasma libraries at a pre-booked appointment.
Artist index cards
You can browse microfilmed materials using index cards for artists. References to articles on artists dating from 1897 to 1980 can be searched alphabetically by the artist’s last name at taiteilijaviitekortit.kansallisgalleria.fi.
Audio-visual archive
The archive of audio-visual material, which is part of the archive collections, is intended for research use. It contains recordings and video documents, such as artist interviews. The archive contains approximately 2,000 items, including approximately 700 recordings.
Digitised materials have been catalogued in a database. You can explore these at the Kiasma Library. For appointment bookings and requests for material, email: tutkimus@kansallisgalleria.fi.
Please note!
Unfortunately, we cannot answer questions regarding the authenticity, value or signatures of works of art. For a price estimate for a work of art, consult an auction house that sells art. As a general rule, we do not respond to enquiries about works by artists other than those in our collections.