Ending the week with water and greenery. Work in progress acrylic on stretched canvas, flood water and tree.
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"Girl from Eydtkuhnen II," Helene Schjerfbeck, 1927.
Finnish painter Schjerfbeck (1862-1946) has quite an artistic evolution. Early in her career, she worked mostly in Impressionist-style plein air styles or Naturalism, as well as a number of Realist historical paintings, many of which were not well-received because, of course, she was a woman and historic paintings were seen as male territory.
Later in her career she also violated norms by experimenting with modernism and Expressionism, as we see here. The model is unknown, but she is depicted with a certain panache. Her face is broken into component parts, but she's still recognizably human and I can't help but feel I'd recognize her if I saw her. She's elongated, with a pointed face and long neck, and the dress is a mere gridwork, but she's still warmly human. Her eager, interested expression draws me in.
Schjerfbeck continued to paint in her final years, including a series of Expressionistic self-portraits that are almost ghoulish.
Her birthday, July 10, is now Finland's national day for the painted arts.
From the Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki.
Hei Turun seutu! Näinä päivinä avautuu Turun Pikisaaressa viehättävä merellinen pitsihuvila, Ravintola Airi. Voit löytää maalauksiani myös sieltä. Osa niistä on myynnissäkin. Ravintola Airiin pääset esim. vesibussilla, pyörällä, veneellä tai kävellen.
IG: Ravintola_airi, www.ravintolaairi.fi
Stuck, 2024
Roe deer skull, carpet weft, glue
#taide #art #nykytaide #contemporaryart #veistos #sculpture #tekstiilitaide #textileart #kallo #skull #moka #finnishart
Roe deer skull, carpet weft, glue
#taide #art #nykytaide #contemporaryart #veistos #sculpture #tekstiilitaide #textileart #kallo #skull #moka #finnishart
"Kaukola Ridge at Sunset," Albert Edelfeldt, 1890.
A Finn, Edelfeldt (1854-1905) is considered one of the greatest artists of 19th century Finland, and one of the stalwarts of the Golden Age of Finnish painting.
Primarily a Realist who dabbled in Impressionism, his work spanned many genres, including history, portraits, landscapes (like this one), plein air work, religious art, illustrations, and sentimental views of the Finnish countryside. He had a number of commissions from the Russian Imperial Court, which controlled Finland at the time, but he was also a leader of the "Pro Finlandia" movement that demanded artistic freedom, at a time when Finland's political rights were being suppressed.
He died young of heart trouble, never getting to see Finland achieve independence (which came in 1919, after the Russian Revolution).
A lovely work....this man's art deserves a closer look.
From the Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki.
"The Garden of Death," Hugo Simberg, 1896.
Another Finnish painter, Simberg (1873-1917) was a student of Akseli Gallen-Kallela, who was featured last week.
The Symbolists can sometimes be puzzling, but it's very common for them to be macabre, and we see that here. Simberg gives us a garden tended by skeletons in black robes. It's a great paradoxical scene...a garden usually symbolizes life and rebirth, but here it's tended by Death, who instead of being menacing or imposing, seems gentle. Look at the one holding a flower to his chest!
One source says that this reflect Simberg's view of a sort of Purgatory, but instead of having your sins purged, your soul is nurtured to grow into what it could be, before moving on to a final reward. In that case, Death becomes a gentle nurturer. Interesting take.
Simberg died young, only 44, from what might have been syphilis. Some believe the disease may have been responsible for the dark, macabre themes in his work.
From the Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki.
"Lake View," Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1901.
I've talked about Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) before; he's one of the great Finnish national artists, a major figure in Finland's struggle for independence both politically and culturally, from Imperial Russia.
Here we have a gorgeous tribute to Finland's natural beauty. Gallen-Kallela's work was often in the "Romantic Nationalist" genre, which involved tributes to his homeland's natural beauty, with perhaps a small touch of idealization.
That island reminds me of a view of the Susquehanna that I like to visit from time to time...
From the Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki.
"'Palokärki (Great Black Woodpecker or Wilderness)," Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1894.
Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) is Finland's great national artist, renowned for his illustrations of the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, but also for establishing a Finnish artistic identity during its struggle for freedom from Russia.
Is this just a landscape or is it allegorical...and if an allegory, an allegory of what? Some say it's about man's loneliness in the universe; others say it's about Finland struggling alone against Russian occupation. Or is it a glorification of Finland's beauty, and a reminder of what the Finns are fighting for?
From a private collection.
"Boy with a Crow," Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1884.
Finnish painter Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) painted this when he was 19 and had never been out of Finland before, but it's viewed as being an almost-perfect example of Parisian realism. But Finnish artists of the time idolized the Realists working in France at the time, and Akseli himself had received lessons from a Realist, Albert Edelfelt.
Gallen-Kallela had a long, storied career as an artist, and is regarded as a national treasure in Finland. He did numerous paintings of Finnish history and legends, including the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. He also fought in the Finnish Civil War that established Finland as an independent nation. He moved to Taos, NM, but returned to Finland to paint some frescoes, but died before they could be completed.
Raise a glass to one of the great Scandinavian artists!
From the Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki.
"Yellow Roses," Helene Schjerfbeck, 1942.
Schjerfbeck (1862-1946) was a Finnish Modernist/Expressionist painter known for self-portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. She began as a French-inspired Realist and plein air painter, but as times passed and she developed as an artist, she began to experiment boldly with new styles. She often used a delicate color palette, as she does here. This is one of her last paintings, and one can feel a sense of mortality.
Her birthday is coming up! July 10th, which is also Finland's national day for the painted arts!
From a private collection.
Small abstracted fire paintings in acrylic (on canvas board). They're the warm up.
"Winter Landscape," Fanny Churberg, 1878.
Churberg (1845-1892) was a Finnish artist who did almost exclusively landscapes, most of her home country. Although she was educated in Dusseldorf and Paris, she exhibited only in Finland. She stopped painting entirely in 1880, for unknown reasons; possibly declining health, but also possibly because her work had received negative reviews. She did continue to write about feminism and artistic subjects until her death.
Churberg was a member of the Dusseldorf school, a group of artists who specialized in detailed but somewhat fanciful landscapes, often with allegorical or religious content, and usually with a subdued color palette. The Dusseldorf school was a significant influence on the Hudson River School and on American art in general.
From the Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki.
"Lake Ruovesi in Winter," Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1916.
Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931), another Finn, painted this peaceful view of a lake he loved (he built a home there for his family) during a time of great turmoil in Finland as the Russians were making incursions into Finland during WWI. Not long after this, he and his son would fight together in the Finnish Civil War.
He did illustrations for the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, and many paintings of Finnish legends and history. His work is now regarded part of the Finnish national identity.
From a private collection.
Ruska 3, acrylic on stretched canvas, 100 cm x 120 cm, 2023. It was in my recent exhibition, and now it's available more broadly, on the online art marketplace Taiko.art.
Dancing Boughs, acrylic on stretched canvas, 100 cm x 80 cm, 2023. It was in my recent exhibition, and now it's available more broadly, on the online art marketplace Taiko.art.
As a bit of a reprieve from the burning forest paintings, some autumnal Lapland:
Ruska II, acrylic on stretched canvas, 120 cm x 80 cm, 2023
On view at the Roihu exhibition until Oct 29, 2023, Galleria 5, Oulu:
Charred Wick, acrylic on stretched canvas, 120 cm x 80 cm, 2023
#AcrylicPainting #FirePainting
#WildFire #painting
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Views from the group exhibition titled Katseen kohde celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Oulu Artist Association, open at the Valve Gallery in Oulu until Nov 5, 2023 (hours 10am to 8pm). The exhibition has work by 34 members of OTS and was curated by visual artist Misha del Val (who lives and works in Kittilä, Finland).
Another day, another painting (on view right now at the exhibition Roihu, Galleria 5, Oulu):
Dancing Boughs, acrylic on stretched canvas, 100 cm x 80 cm, 2023.
Today's painting from the exhibition Roihu is titled Smoke and Fire 1 (acrylic on stretched canvas, 100 cm x 80 cm, 2023).