‘Rooted in the Native Soil’—Cultural Amnesia and the Myth of the ‘Golden Age’ in Finnish Art History

Abstract

In Finnish art history, the period around the turn of the 20th century has been considered to be particularly significant for the formation of a national identity, and it has therefore come to be known as the ‘Golden Age’ of Finnish art. According to the commonly held historical narrative, artists in late nineteenth-century Finland, which at the time was an autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire, shared a patriotic mission that led to a blossoming of the arts. This narrative construction has become so well-established that its origins in the cultural debates of newly independent Finland in the 1920s and 1930s have faded out of sight. This article identifies some of the mechanisms of active and passive remembering and forgetting that have generated the myth of the ‘Golden Age’. The analysis is guided by perspectives created in the field of cultural memory studies that emphasize the role of remembering and forgetting in the construction of historical narratives. A brief overview of the vibrant cultural exchange between Finnish and Russian artists of the period is given in order to exemplify the richness of historical phenomena that has largely remained under the shadow of the powerful myth of the ‘Golden Age’.