Happy Birthday - Two Museums and a Market

I actually woke up (kind of) early today.  Vacation early, which is different than working early...to be precise.  And the first thing I did was....Laundry.  I'd like to state that it took longer than it should have due to a wacky machine with crazy knobs and whistles....and no instruction manual.  Then again, the manual would probably have been in Finnish, so it would not have helped.  As soon as I got everything cleaned, I had to hand it up to dry.  Most of Europe is dryer free.  Because dryers are not eco-friendly.   Urgh.

Anyway, I figured out the trams a little more and headed to the Ateneum Art Museum (which is a part of the Finnish National Gallery).  Most of the art I saw today was created by Finns, with a few notable exceptions.  The Finns didn't really start coming into their own artistically until they discovered Art Nouveau and Expressionism.  While I'm a big fan of their Art Nouveau architecture, I didn't really get in to a lot of their Expressionism.  Some of what I did like:

 This is a landscape by Vilho Lampi called "Nocturne," painted in 1930.

This painting from 1923, "Winter Landscape, Kinahami" is by Pekka Halonen.

One of the few very Expressionist works I liked was this one by Yrjö Saarinen, called "Resting Hour" (1942). 

I especially liked this early Finnish work from the earlier Väinö Blomstedt: "Francesca," 1897.

A couple of non-Finnish works I enjoyed were

This is a cool little sculpture by Max Ernst, called "Genius of the Bastille."

And, of course...Van Gogh!  This was painted near the end of his life, while he was in the sanatorium. The really interesting (and cool) bit of trivia about this particular painting is that it is the first Van Gogh acquired by a museum.  So, the Finns were the first ones to get it right.   

I checked out the shop afterward and found....nothing.  It's disappointing when I can't find anything in a museum shop.  So I decided to hop back on the tram and see if I could find the Hakaniemi Market Hall, which was further down on the same tram line I'd ridden earlier. 

I found it..and it was much like the one earlier this week.  Too damn early in the year.  Although, the indoor part was less restaurant and more market.  Downstairs, you could find vegetables, meat, seafood, and bakeries.  Upstairs was more household goods...but nothing really appealing to me as a keepsake.  So, I went downstairs to a bakery and got a piece of an apple cake thing (apples and cheesy custard over a thin cake base) with a good, strong cup of coffee.  Happy Birthday to me!

I then hopped back on the tram and headed back the way I came.  I stopped in Stedman's to use the bathroom and found a big end of season sale.  SHOPPING!  Bought a couple of things, I'll admit...

Then, I went in search of the Helsinki Art Museum (HAM).  I'd seen the building many times, so I knew which direction to head off in.  Once I found it, I couldn't figure out how to get to the museum.  The HUGE building also includes a 14 theater cineplex and a couple of eateries.  I had to circle 3/4 of the building to find the entrance for HAM.  

I later found out that the building is the Tennis Palace that was build in 1938 for the 1940 Summer Olympics (which were cancelled due to WWII).  Which is why it's hugenormous.   

Anyway, got in.  A lot of the artwork was Finnish Expressionism with an exhibit of Tyko Sallinen.  I'd seen some of his work earlier in the day and it did not appeal to me.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure he was a great artist and he was a founding member of a group called the "November Group" that included talented Cubists and Expressionists...but his work did not appeal to me.  

He seemed to progress through different styles of Expressionism...and I especially remember thinking that some of his work seemed similar to Van Gogh, but not as vibrant and full of color and life.   

However, there was some nifty Finnish design stuff; in particular some 60's fashion.  

All of the above are from Marimekko, a company that still produces textiles and clothes to this day. These are all from the mid-60's and designed by Annika Rimala.  I thought they were completely groovy.  There were some displays of Finnish Fashion in the 50's that I wasn't attracted to at all, I think the Finns came into their own during the 60's.  That geometric black and white dress I'd wear today.  

I've found that copper seems to be some sort of theme on this trip.  This is an enormous sculpture called "Sun in the Fells" by Laila Pullinen from 1967.  It was created for, and exhibited at the 1967 Montreal Expo. 

Another artwork exhibited at the Expo was this wonderfully strange glass sculpture called "Pack Ice" by Timo Sarpaneva.  It was made by blowing glass into a wooden mold.  I think it looks incredibly cool.

Nothing appealed in this museum shop either...sheesh!

I tried to head over to the Natural History Museum, but they were getting ready to close...so I peeked a the menus of a few restaurants and decided to pass.  After hovering around a balmy 40 degrees today, it was becoming decidedly colder.  I headed back. 

I did do a bit of research on where to find a Finnish restaurant and there is a buffet-style one a couple of blocks from the apartment...with great ratings, that I think I'll check out tomorrow night. 

Right now, it's raining, so I am glad I decided to eat in.  I'm all cozy and toasty in my Finnish home.