Anniversary year takes Pekka Halonen to Paris
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of painter Pekka Halonen. At the beginning of November, the Petit Palais art museum in Paris will open a large exhibition of Pekka Halonenu0026#x27;s art, which has been planned in collaboration with the Ateneum Art Museum. In Tuusula, Pekka Halonenu0026#x27;s anniversary year will also be reflected in the exhibitions at Halosenniemi.
The exhibition Pekka Halonen, Hymn to Finland at the Petit Palais museum is the first major retrospective exhibition of Pekka Halonen’s art in Paris and a unique opportunity for the French to become acquainted with Halonen’s winter landscapes. The exhibition will be on display from 4 November 2025 to 22 February 2026. The Petit Palais has previously showcased Scandinavian artists, for example in 2022 the museum held an extensive exhibition of Albert Edelfelt’s art. The Ateneum’s Classics to the World project takes visual art abroad with the support of the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation.
Halosenniemi was Pekka Halonen’s home and studio. Its surroundings provided inspiration for his works – the shores of Lake Tuusula have been immortalised in many of Halonen’s works throughout the seasons, and this artistic heritage is cherished by the Tuusula Museum. We have been involved in planning the Paris exhibition for several years and are delighted that the landscapes of Pekka Halonen will soon be on display for Parisians to admire, says Ulla Kinnunen, Director of Culture and Museums in Tuusula.
Works from the Halosenniemi Museum have been conserved for the exhibition. Fifteen paintings by Halonen have been borrowed from the collections of the museum and the Pekka Halonen Society. Early masterpieces such as Pyhäpäivä uudistalossa (1894), Omakuva (1890) and Ateljeen sisäkuva (1913) and Tuusulanjärven kevätjäitä (1927), both painted in Tuusula, will be on display. Original items from the Halosenniemi Museum will also be on display at the exhibition.
The idyllic Halosenniemi artist’s home on the shores of Lake Tuusula attracts 30,000 visitors every year. The exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris offers a wide audience the opportunity to familiarise themselves with Halonen’s work and the changing seasons reflected in his art. We welcome those interested in Pekka Halonen’s art to visit us here in Tuusula, says Kalle Ikkelä, Mayor of Tuusula.
Halosenniemi’s summer exhibition Under the Paris sky
The theme of the Halosenniemi summer exhibition is Pekka Halonen and his fellow artists in France at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Artists from all over Europe gathered in Paris, and new art movements, alongside the Parisian milieu, were reflected in the art of the time. After completing his art studies in Finland, Pekka Halonen also left for Paris in the autumn of 1890 to study. He returned there in 1893–94, when he was taught by the painter Paul Gauguin.
The exhibition “Under the Paris Sky – Artists’ French Themes”, on display at Halosenniemi from 30 April to 14 September 2025, features works by Albert Edelfelt, Axel Gallén, Eero Järnefelt, Magnus Enckell, Elin Danielson-Gambog, Dora Wahlroos and Venny Soldan-Brofeldt.
In the artist’s landscapes
In autumn 2025, we will celebrate Pekka Halonen’s life and career in Halosenniemi, as it will be 160 years since the artist’s birth. A young art student from a peasant background and a Finnish speaker, he took the domestic art scene by storm, left for Paris to continue his studies and rose to become one of our leading artists. Halonen’s authentic rural background proved to be his strength. His depictions of folk life and landscape paintings were in keeping with the spirit of the times and received favourable reviews at exhibitions and among art lovers. The Halosenniemi exhibition “Far away from the city – in the painter’s landscapes” opens on Pekka Halonen’s birthday, 23 September.
Further information
Ulla Kinnunen, Director of Culture and Museums, tel. +358 40 314 3456, ulla.kinnunen@tuusula.fi Päivi
Ahdeoja-Määttä, Exhibition Curator, tel. +358 40 314 3462, paivi.ahdeoja@tuusula.fi
Pekka Halonen 160 anniversary exhibitions
Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris
Petit Palais, Paris City Art Museum
Avenue Winston-Churchill
75008 Paris
Pekka Halonen (1865–1933), Un Hymne à la Finlande
Pekka Halonen (1865–1933), Hymn to Finland
4 November 2025–22 February 2026
Halosenniemi
Halosenniementie 4–6, Tuusula
Under the Parisian sky – French themes in art
30 April–14 September 2025
Pekka Halonen and his contemporaries’ Parisian themes
Far away from the land – in the painter’s landscapes
23 September 2025–26 January 2026 160 years since
the birth of Pekka Halonen
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