The popularity of Ateneum’s grand exhibition, hailed as an event, was surprising

At the Ateneum The Gothic Modern exhibition, which opened at the beginning of October, has gathered a bigger audience than expected. The exhibition has also attracted those who have not visited the museum before.

“I’m happy to say that we’ve had a lot of young people visit us, who traditionally aren’t our biggest audience group,” says Ateneum’s director Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff.

During October, more than 63,000 visitors have visited Atenum. For comparison, I was at Ateneum in the summer Eero Järnefelt -exhibition gathered more than 60,000 visitors in its busiest month in August.

Something about the exhibition’s popularity is also said by the fact that it was made for it Gothic Modern 1875–1925: From Darkness to Light –a second edition of the exhibition book has already been taken.

I like it the background is the new perspective on modern art offered by the exhibition, thinks von Bonsdorff, who also served as the main curator of the exhibition.

In Gothic Modern, the gaze is shifted to the artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who plunged into dark waters inspired by the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The works deal with the themes of death, suffering and sexuality in a dark tone.

“The exhibition combines things that are also interesting right now. Our popular culture and our visual culture is full of this topic,” von Bonsdorff reflects on the popularity.

Show opened in October with a first presentation to 900 young people from different schools, because Ateneum felt that the topic could resonate with them. The feeling was right. Young people can be seen in the halls of the art museum more than usual.

The word has started to circulate from friend to friend, von Bonsdorff thinks. In addition, recommendations about the exhibition are shared on social media.

“We haven’t set out to make any Tiktok videos ourselves, because it could only go horribly wrong,” he says and laughs.

In addition to young goths, the exhibition has attracted, for example, older metal music listeners in addition to regular groups of visitors.

Idea modern Gothic is new in art circles, so the exhibition has been buzzing with international media. “Did van Gogh have a Gothic phase?”, asks The New York Times in the title of an article dealing at length with the exhibition.

In French Beaux Arts magazine writes that the exhibition shows why the Middle Ages is more modern than ever. The last British newspaper to write about the exhibition The Guardian.

HS:n the assessment states that the Ateneum fulfills its promise to rewrite the history of modern art.

From Helsinki, the exhibition goes on tour to Oslo and Vienna.

Art historical in addition to its value, the exhibition manages to touch and make you laugh. The reception of the exhibition is “a curator’s dream”, characterizes von Bonsdorff.

“The exhibition deals with big and important questions in many ways. People find it comforting and touching,” he says.

“Visitors become quieter at the exhibition and spend a lot of time getting to know the works.”

On Friday It’s a free day at the Ateneum, so you can expect a crowd at the Gothic Modern works.

Museum visitors looking for a quiet moment are encouraged by von Bonsdorff to come to the Ateneum on a weekday evening, when the museum is open until dark.

Gothic Modern exhibition until January 26 at the Ateneum. Opening hours: Tue–Fri 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., weekends 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.