The top floor of Finland’s premier art gallery is an ideal crash course in the nation’s art. It houses Finnish paintings and sculptures from the ‘golden age’ of the late 19th century through to the 1950s, including works by Albert Edelfelt, Hugo Simberg, Helene Schjerfbeck, the Von Wright brothers and Pekka Halonen. Pride of place goes to the prolific Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s triptych from the Kalevala depicting Väinämöinen’s pursuit of the maiden Aino. There’s also a small but interesting collection of 19th- and early-20th-century foreign art.
Downstairs is a cafe, good bookshop and reading room. The building itself dates from 1887.
