Collection of maritime antiquities and art

The Foundation’s operations are built on the collection of marine art, ancient maps, and maritime antiquities, accrued in the past decades first by the family business John Nurminen Oy, and later by the John Nurminen Foundation. The Foundation maintains and expands its collection by acquiring new items and by accepting donations.

The John Nurminen Foundation’s museum and permanent exhibition are in Huolintatalo, Länsi-Pasila, in Helsinki. Societies, associations, and other groups as well as private individuals are warmly welcome to visit the Foundation’s collections and museum. Book a tour by sending an inquiry to: opastukset (at) jnfoundation.fi.

Online collections

You can find selected items from the Foundation’s collection in our online image catalogue.

Naval art

The Foundation’s collection of naval art includes paintings, graphic prints and sculpture. Among the Finnish artists featured in the collection are Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Björn Landström, Lasse Malmlund and Henrik Tikkanen. There are also several sea and ship-themed paintings by the German professor Adolf Bock, who was a major influence in Finland in the early 20th century. All in all, the naval art collection is home to approximately 150 works of art.

Maritime antiquities

The Foundation’s maritime antiquities collection includes various pieces of seafaring machinery and equipment, and items and tools used by seafarers in the eras of sailing ships and steamships alike. The Foundation also owns a collection of ship models, ranging from Viking ships to 19th century polar vessels, which holds great value in terms of maritime history. The highlight of the Foundation’s collection of maritime antiquities is the captain’s saloon from the steamer Inkeri Nurminen, dating from 1892.

Antique maps

The Foundation’s antique map collection contains treasures ranging from the world maps of the 15th century to 18th century nautical charts of the Baltic Sea. Today, the map collection consists of a total of one thousand maps, atlases, globes, and rare books. Examples include naval and city maps of the Baltic Sea and the Nordic area, and maps of the arctic. The Foundation owns Finland’s largest private collection of nautical charts.

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