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Eila Vilhelmina Hiltunen (22 November 1922, Sortavala – 10 October 2003, Helsinki) was a Finland sculptor. She is most famous for the Sibelius Monument (1967). A statue by Hiltunen resembling a smaller version of the Sibelius Monument stands on the grounds of the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
She married in 1944 and had children. She and her sometimes violent husband had a difficult relationship. NEW Book of cruel truths of the top artists of marriage , 12 September 2012, MTV.fi, Retrieved 20 March 2016 She always used her birth name. Their marriage lasted 50 years until Otso Pietinen's death although they were not always together.
Hiltunen is most famous for the Sibelius Monument which was constructed in 1967. The sculpture won a competition organised by the Sibelius Society following the composer's death in 1957. It is one of the most popular tourist sights in Helsinki.
Although her abstract sculpture of pipes is now well regarded as an important Finnish landmark, its initial reception was controversial. The objection centred on the abstract design; and although the design looked like stylised organ pipes, it was known that the composer had created little music for organs. To address her critics' concern, she was required to add Sibelius's face beside the main sculpture. A sculpture by Hiltunen resembling a smaller Sibelius Monument stands in the grounds of the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
Hiltunen was awarded the Finland Prize in 2000. Her husband, Otso Pietinen, died in 1993, and Hiltunen died in 2003.
In 2022, a major retrospective of Hiltunen's works was held at the Didrichsen Art Museum in Helsinki to mark the 100th anniversary of her birth.
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