mÅland – Önningeby Artists Colony

The Önningeby Artists’ Colony, founded in 1886, was Finland’s first artists’ colony. It began with the initiative of the artist Victor Westerholm, who invited fellow artists to Åland and his residence, villa Tomtebo, to paint and socialize. Already during the first summer, the artist couple Fredrik and Nina Ahlstedt, Elin Danielson-Gambogi, Alexander Federley and Hanna Rönnberg, including J.A.G. Acke from Sweden traveled to Åland.

Open-air painting had gained a foothold, and the artists spent their time outdoors, capturing the Åland archipelago and the countryside. Their paintings also portrayed fellow artists and residents. The colony became an important meeting place for artists from Finland and Sweden, and new friendships were formed.

The exhibition presents the colony’s most central members, with a focus on the female artists who formed majority. Works by artists such as Nina Ahlstedt, Elin Danielson-Gambogi, Ida Gisiko-Spärck, Hanna Rönnberg, and Anna Wengberg are highlighted. Special emphasis is put on Eva Topelius-Acke and Elin Alfhild Nordlund, both of whom had ties to Ostrobothnia.

The exhibition is supported by Brothers’ Gröndahl Foundation.

Image: Victor Westerholm, View, Tomtebo, 1886.
Photo: The Museum Ett Hem/Vesa Aaltonen