Suspected Särestöniemi forgery likely copied from art center’s own work

A suspected forgery of a Reidar Särestöniemi painting displayed at the Vuohijärvi Cultural Center in Kouvola was likely modeled after a work held in the center’s own collection, according to Yle.

The piece was part of the Reidar Särestöniemi Experience exhibition and had been loaned by a private individual who acquired it at auction. The work in question was sold by Bukowskis in 2016 for €8,600.

Tuomas Hoikkala, executive director of the cultural center, recalled that the Kirsi and Keijo Eerikäinen Art Foundation’s collection—comprising over 200 Särestöniemi works—includes a piece titled Stalin in Galactic Time. The suspected forgery bore the same title on its reverse.

The original Stalin in Galactic Time was exhibited in 2021 at the Salmela Art Center in Mäntyharju, also managed by Hoikkala, and has been published in a book on Särestöniemi’s works. However, the suspected forgery is not a direct copy—Stalin’s face is positioned differently, the dimensions are smaller, and the colors vary.

Hoikkala is considering displaying the original and the suspected forgery side by side, pending confirmation from National Gallery experts that the piece is indeed a forgery.