Finland’s lighthouse, by David Platzer

David Platzer on “Pekka Halonen: An Ode to Finland,” at the Petit Palais, Paris. The Petit Palais has a history of exhibiting Scandinavian masters whose works are barely known outside of their own countries, such as Sweden’s Bruno Liljefors, about whom I wrote for Dispatch last February. Now the museum is devoting an exhibition to Finland’s Pekka Halonen (1865–1933), whom Annick Lemoine, the director of the Petit Palais, dubs a “lighthouse in Finnish art” in the exhibition’s catalogue. Almost all of the paintings in the show come either from private Finnish collections or Helsinki’s Ateneum museum, which co-curated the exhibition. Speaking for myself, Halonen is a revelation, especially because my knowledge of Finland had previously been limited to Len Deighton’s spy novel Billion-Dollar Brain. Introduced to painting by his father, Pekka Halonen was trained at the Society of Drawing and Fine Arts at Helsinki. Halonen went on to study in Paris, first at the Académie Julian in 1890, and then at the Académie Colorossi in 1893. Such sojourns in the world’s art capital were considered essential for any aspiring European artist. In Paris, Halonen was greatly impressed by Paul Gauguin and transferred to the Académie Vitti so that he could study with the master, who had just returned from Tahiti.

“Pekka Halonen (1865–1933), whom Annick Lemoine, the director of the Petit Palais, dubs a ‘lighthouse in Finnish art’ in the exhibition’s catalogue.”

Summary: Pekka Halonen’s training bridged Helsinki and Paris, exposing him to Gauguin and European modernism, and positioning him as a pivotal figure in Finnish art whose significance was celebrated by the Petit Palais through a focused exhibition.

“Almost all of the paintings in the show come either from private Finnish collections or Helsinki’s Ateneum museum, which co-curated the exhibition.”

The New Criterion — 2025-11-20

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