The art of a multitalented artist

Vilho Lampi Museum is one of the attractions in the Old Liminka museum area. The Vilho Lampi Museum lets visitors admire the works of one of the notable figures of Finnish art history, Liminka-based artist Vilho Lampi. The museum area also comprises the Abraham Ojanperä Home Museum and Liminka Local History Museum.

Painter Vilho Henrik Lampi (1898–1936) is especially well-known for his defiant self-portraits, his powerful depictions of regular people, and his paintings reflecting the landscapes of Liminka and its open surroundings and the Liminka people. The art museum and exhibition showcasing the works of Vilho Lampi was opened in the oldest public-school building in North Finland in 1972. This neo-renaissance inspired building, called the ‘stone school’, was completed in 1869, and was taken into use as a school in autumn 1871.

Vilho Lampi was an artist with a wide range of talents. Lampi went to Suomen Taideyhdistyksen Piirustuskoulu, an art school maintained by the Finnish Art Society, in 1921–1925, and he was a highly productive artist already during his student days, which gained him admiration and the nickname of “Genius Lampi” among friends. In addition to fine arts, he also wrote various texts, poems, speeches and aphorisms and had recitation and acting as his hobbies. Lampi’s works received international recognition and were also showcased in exhibitions abroad. For his entire life, Vilho Lampi had to balance between his strong calling in arts and the workload of his family farm, Matinlauri. During his brief career, Lampi tried many different painting styles from harsh expressionism to New Objectivity and the delicate pointillism present in his later works. It has been estimated that Lampi painted more than 550 works during his 14-year career. Lampi died at age 38 by suicide in Oulu, by jumping from a railway bridge into Merikoski rapids of Oulujoki River. The gravestone of Vilho Lampi features a bronze relief depicting the artist himself, made by his friend Martti Tarvainen.

Vilho Lampi museum is open in the summer season. A small fee is charged from visitors for the entry in the museum.