Albert Edelfelt Studio Museum

This location of an original art studio and accompanying gallery building named for and linked to Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt is thanks to his mother, Alexandra. 

In 1879, Alexandra rented out a coastal summer house in the Finnish village of Haikko, near the city of Porvoo, where her son, Albert, would fall in love and find inspiration from the surrounding archipelago landscape. Four years later, Edelfelt purchased the property and had a studio built onsite, complete with a skylight. He spent over two dozen summers in Haikko and would go on to paint some 220 works within his studio. 

Edelfelt died in Haikko in August 1905. His studio became a museum in 1951 and has been restored to its original format. Visitors can go inside this bright red building and see a selection of Edelfelt’s drawings, photographs and belongings.

In 2019, Villa Albert was completed in the courtyard of Edelfelt’s studio, which is an adjacent building used as a showroom for changing exhibitions. The building also contains a gift shop.

Born in Porvoo, Edelfelt showed much artistic promise with drawing at a young age. He attended the Finnish Art Society in Helsinki and then became a student of Finnish genre painter and art teacher Adolf von Becker. In early adulthood, Edelfelt left Finland and went on across Europe to further his studies, first in Antwerp and later on to Paris, where he thrived. Among his works while in Paris, Edelfelt painted a portrait of French chemist Louis Pasteur in his laboratory. Edelfelt is said to be the first Finnish artist to gain international fame. He is recognized for his naturalistic style and Realist approach to art.

However, Edelfelt didn’t forget about his homeland and made its culture, people, and history the subject of many of his paintings. He also has painted portraits of his mother and his sister, Berta. A good number of his works can be seen at this property.