Celebrating the Old Masters Collection at the Sinebrychoff Art Museum

Written by ira Westergård ChieF CuratOr, sinebryChOFF art MuseuM

Paul Sinebrychoff senior and Anna Sinebrychoff (née Tichanoff) with children Nicolas, Maria, Anna and Paul junior, c. 1866. collection of ARchived photo pRintS. ARchive collectionS, finniSh nAtionAl gAlleRy In the autumn of 2021, The Sinebrychoff Art Museum in the centre of Helsinki has a special cause for celebration: one hundred years ago, in November 1921, the historic building of the Sinebrychoff family at Bulevardi 40, received its first visitors ever as a public museum.

Since the opening in 1921, both the museum and its collections have gone through many changes. The museum and the whole building is now part of the Finnish National Gallery, and the museum’s responsibility covers a wide chronological range between the late Middle Ages and the mid-nineteenth century. Alongside a programme of temporary exhibitions, the fascinating history of the

Sinebrychoff family and their art collection is presented in a suite of stately furnished rooms on the second floor – the Paul and Fanny

Sinebrychoff house museum.

The collection presented in the house museum is more than an art collection. In addition to antique furniture, the collection includes porcelain, silver and miniatures. But a house museum also covers the story about its inhabitants, the Sinebrychoff family. They belonged to the wealthiest and most successful entrepreneurs of the nineteenth century in Finland and the history of the Sinebrychoff brewery is therefore, inextricably linked to the history of the Sinebrychoff Art Museum. brewery, Anna Sinebrychoff was equally famous for her extensive charitable work. She supported a number of charitable institutions and generously gave money to almost anyone asking for her help. The following generation of the Sinebrychoff family continued to follow the model first established by Anna Sinebrychoff.

The art collection

The Sinebrychoff family

The Russian Sinebrychoff family established themselves as merchants close to the Finnish border already in the eighteenth century. When Finland became a Grand Duchy of the Russian empire, three brothers, Nicolai, Ivan and Paul, followed in the footsteps of the Russian army and settled on the fortress island of Viapori just outside the city of Helsinki. Nicolai Sinebrychoff founded the brewery on the mainland, close to the city centre, in 1819. The business flourished and in 1842, the headquarters of the company moved into a brand new building at Bulevardi 40. The building, which is now the Sinebrychoff Art Museum, combined living spaces on the second floor with office spaces on the ground floor.

After the death of Nicolai Sinebrychoff in 1848, it was the youngest brother Paul, who took over the brewery and moved into the grand apartment with his family. Paul Sinebrychoff was an astute business manager and he continued to increase the family fortune. His wife Anna Sinebrychoff also turned out to be an accomplished business woman, who took a keen interest in the affairs of the brewery. When she became a widow in 1883, she continued to exercise a considerable influence over the family brewery, although it was her son, Paul the younger, who took over the company as managing director.

Anna Sinebrychoff had moved in to the second floor apartment as a young woman in 1850, following her marriage to Paul the elder, and she continued to live there until her death in 1904. Although her family was widely known as the wealthy owners of the Sinebrychoff

In 1883, Paul (the younger) married the young and promising actress Fanny Grahn. Consequently, Fanny gave up her career at the theatre, and during the early years of their marriage, she had the opportunity to enjoy a privileged life with her husband Paul. Together they travelled across many countries in Europe, visited important art collections and developed an interest in collecting art themselves. Great art collections all have their own unique history. Sometimes an art collector has a clear vision of the future art collection from the beginning, and knows exactly what kind Paul Sinebrychoff (1859–1917) and Fanny Grahn of art works would fit into the pre-conceived (1862–1921) as an engaged couple in 1883. photo: JohAnneS JAegeR. Stockholm. concept. Equally common, however, is the formation of an art collection as the result of a more gradually evolving process. Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff started creating their art collection simultaneously with the furnishing of their home, and thus, the earliest acquisitions of art works reflected the more typical taste of the upper middle-class. They purchased paintings by Finnish late nineteenth-century artists that blended with the rich and decorative style of the furniture from the same period. Later, this part of their home and art collection was used exclusively for the private rooms of their future home at the Bulevardi 40. A more ambitious scheme of collecting started in the 1890s and continued with an ever-growing passion until the beginning of the First World War. The couple abandoned the idea of collecting Finnish art, and according to Paul’s own statement, the aim was now “to have a representative sample of Swedish portrait painting from the period when the destinies of Sweden and Finland were united”. Paul was referring to the period before 1809 when Finland still belonged to

Empire Hall.

Fanny declared that she made the donation “to fulfil the wish and to preserve the memory of my husband who was so dedicated to the cultural and artistic progress of the country”.

Sweden. Eventually the focussing on Swedish art works expanded to include some Italian old masters and a collection of high quality 17th century Dutch and Flemish painting.

The orientation towards earlier periods also meant that Paul and Fanny needed to trust the opinion of experts, and Paul spent endless hours in correspondence with fellow collectors, art dealers and experts. In particular, he relied on the advice of well-known art historian Osvald Sirén. Sirén, a fellow countryman from Finland, but now stationed in Stockholm, acted as an advisor for the National Museum in Sweden and several art collectors around Europe. Unlike Paul, Sirén had time to travel around Europe, he could inspect art works first-handed, and he knew what type of art works Paul and Fanny might find interesting.

Although Sirén successfully broadened the scope of the Sinebrychoff collection, it was evident that portrait painting remained the most important focus of the collection. The Sinebrychoff art collection also includes a collection of more than 300 miniatures and Paul Sinebrychoff in particular, loved these tiny portraits. He often made additional enquiries about the painters and the models.

A great donation house museum in the former home of Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff started immediately, and 27 November 1921 a brand new museum was inaugurated with festivities and celebrities present.

Today, the Sinebrychoff Art Museum cherishes its heritage and the memory of Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff. The house museum celebrates its 100th anniversary with a new publication highlighting the gems of the collection and the fascinating story of the Sinebrychoff family. s

SINEBRYCHOFF ART MUSEUM

Bulevardi 40, 00120 Helsinki www.siff.fi

Opening hours Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 11–18 Wednesday 11–20 Saturday, Sunday 10–17 Monday closed

Tickets

Normal admission 16€ Concessions 14€ Under 18-year-olds free of charge Museum Card, Hki Card: free of charge Free admission to the House Museum on the 2nd floor. The House Museum is closed until 26 November 2021.

Paul Sinebrychoff (the younger) died in 1917, only a few weeks before Finland became an independent state. The couple had remained childless, and Paul’s entire heritance passed to his wife Fanny. Only a few years later, in January 1921, the State of Finland officially received Fanny Sinebrychoff’s donation of her and Paul Sinebrychoff’s art collection. Fanny declared that she made the donation “to fulfil the wish and to preserve the memory of my husband who was so dedicated to the cultural and artistic progress of the country”.

At the time, the donation was by far the most valuable and significant donation of an art collection ever made in Finland. News of the donation spread throughout the country and Fanny Sinebrychoff was celebrated in many newspaper articles. Her time in the limelight was brief, however. She died of a sudden illness in April 1921. After her death, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs handed over the responsibility for the Sinebrychoff collection to the Finnish Art Association, which already was in charge of Ateneum, the most important art museum in Finland. Preparations to open a small

LINNAEUS AND GLIMPSES OF PARADISE Sinebrychoff Art Museum 17.2.–28.8.2022

Gardens have always been a source of wellbeing and joy, with flowers providing both visual and olfactory delight. The use of flowers as symbols or ornaments developed into botanical portraiture in the 17th century, In the visual arts the use of flowers as symbol or ornament develops into true flower portrait in the 17th century. The floral still life was born. Pictures became an important aspect of the study of nature and its illustration. Artists specialising in flower painting – a significant number of them women – also left their mark on botanical publications.

A proper history of gardens in Finland begins with the work of two naturalists, Pehr Kalm (1716–1779) and his teacher Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). At the time there was a strong link between botanical research and garden art. Gardeners prided themselves with their rare plants. Every gardener creates a personal paradise.