Blue-Chip Galleries in Stockholm and Helsinki Announce Merger

They will form the largest contemporary art gallery in the Nordic region.

Jan Hansen, from Lars Bohman Gallery (left) and Kaj Forsblom, from Galerie Forsblom (right). Courtesy of Galerie Forsblom.

The Stockholm-based Lars Bohman Gallery and Helsinki’s Galerie Forsblom have announced today that they are merging to become the largest contemporary art gallery in the Nordic region.

“This is a great opportunity for our artists to widen their audiences, and for our collectors to be introduced to great new talents,” Jan Hansen, owner of Lars Bohman Gallery, said in a statement.

The new gallery, which will go by the name of Bohman Forsblom Gallery, will open in Stockholm in January 2017. Forsblom, however, will also continue operating under its current name in Helsinki.

“Stockholm is a great international hub at the heart of the Nordic region. The Swedish art audience is very discerning and informed. We look forward to bringing them the benefits of our international network,” Kaj Forsblom said of the merger.

Both galleries, which are considered among the best in Scandinavia, specialize in prominent artists from the region such as Bjarne Melgaard, as well as established international artists including the Spanish painter Secundino Hernández, both on the roster of Forsblom. The Helsinki gallery is currently holding an exhibition of works by Ai Weiwei.

It seems that 2017 will be a momentous year to launch the merger, as Galerie Forsblom will celebrate its 40th anniversary, and Lars Bohman Gallery, its 35th.

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The two galleries have already been collaborating in the past few years, as they’ve both worked with artists such as Donald Baechler, Stephan Balkenhol, Lena Cronqvist, Linn Fernström, Peter Frie, Jussi Niva, and Marianna Uutinen.

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