For teachers

The Sinebrychoff Art Museum building and the origins of the collections

The Sinebrychoff Art Museum was originally built as the home of the Sinebrychoff family. Today, it is known as the only museum in Finland to specialise in old European art. Several art collectors have wanted to donate their art collections to the museum. You can explore these collections at the renewed collection exhibition on the second floor.

The most significant of the art collections is the Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff collection, which was, in its time, the largest private donation made in Finland. It includes nearly 900 works of art and objects from the home of the Sinebrychoffs. The Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff collection is on display at the house museum, in the second-floor rooms facing Bulevardi, which are furnished based on photographs taken by Signe Brander in 1912. Exquisite objects and works of art from the house museum are now on display in the exhibition space in the Red Cellar.

The history of collecting

Art collecting was originally a pursuit of royals and nobles. In the 17th century, the zest for collecting spread among the educated and the wealthy tradespeople. Collectors acquired exquisite multi-compartment cabinets-on-stand that were used to store special items, such as various minerals, rare seashells, pearls, gold objects, miniature paintings, and even exotic insects. Art galleries were introduced into castles and manors. Collectors ordered works directly from artists or acquired them from auctions and exhibitions. Works of art were first presented within a small family circle, and then often to a larger audience. In Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff’s time, in the late 19th century, art collecting was already commonplace.

Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff as collectors

Paul and Fanny, with the help of experts, acquired particularly 17th and 18th-century Swedish portraits and miniatures, as well as 17th-century Flemish and Dutch art. The childless couple wanted to fill their home with beautiful objects and works of art, as was the style of the time. The collecting was based on the idea of sharing and education. The couple sought representative works from major artists of each period for the collection. We can read about these exciting art acquisitions in Paul’s letters. This was how Finland’s first collection of art by “old masters” came into being, with works purposefully selected with the help of art experts.

Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff wanted to donate their collection for the common good, and made a donation to the Finnish State in 1921. In 2021, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the donation.

To discuss

• Ask your friend, have they ever collected anything?
• Have they ever put their collection on display?
• What do you collect?
• Why do you think collecting is, or is not, a worthwhile pursuit?
• Look for information on what people collect these days.

Take a look at the paintings in Paul’s study

• What do you think is the mood of the room?
• What would be your favourite work? Why?

Assignments on a museum visit or virtual guided tour

A virtual tour of the house museum

• Choose works and objects from the exhibition that you like.
• Consider why these specific pieces have become part of the Sinebrychoff collection.
• What thoughts and feelings do the works evoke in you?
• Collecting says something about a person and their character – what do you think the Sinebrychoffs’ collection and home say about Fanny and Paul?

• subjects, symbolism and techniques in old art
• portraiture as a builder of identity
• miniatures as an art form and a form of communication
• historical periods in interiors
• design in various periods
• craft techniques for various materials (for example, intarsia, carving, turning, and decorative painting)
• fashion through the centuries (suits, lace, collars, wigs, colours)
• royalty during Swedish rule (Queen Christina, Charles XII, Gustav III’s court, Charles XIV John…)
• in the footsteps of Swedish artists (Alexander Roslin, Johan Tobias Sergel, David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, Carl Frederik von Breda…)
• history of people and places (the Sinebrychoff family, the Punavuori and Hietalahti districts, 19th-century Helsinki)
• industrial history (brewing and construction in the 19th century)
• architecture and restoration…