Finnish artists. Through the halls of the Ateneum Museum: the most famous and interesting exhibits Works of Finnish sculptors
Culture and art are the heritage and heritage of every state. “The Land of a Thousand Lakes” is not only a skiing and fishing paradise for travelers and tourists, but also a place for various art critics and simply connoisseurs of creativity. Art, in particular painting, is very developed in Finland. Many art galleries, museums and exhibitions will delight even the most sophisticated connoisseurs of fine art.
Artists from the country of Suomi, who received European education in the nineteenth century, became the main and driving factor that gave impetus to the development of fine art in Finland. Before we begin to get acquainted with representatives of Finnish painting, let’s get acquainted with the work of the “father of Finnish art and painting” Robert Ekman.
Robert Wilhelm Ekman
Born in 1808, the artist in his paintings depicted the life of ordinary Finnish peasants, all the hardships of their lives, and focused public attention on the social policy of the Finnish state towards commoners. When Robert turned 16, he went to Stockholm to study at the Swedish Academy of Arts. As a young and brilliant talent, Ekman received a Swedish scholarship for his talent, and later his vocation as an artist led him to go to study in Italy and France, and then to Holland. The master of the brush spent seven whole years in these countries from 1837 to 1844.
Returning back to the country of Suomi, Robert Wilhelm settled in the city of Turku, where he began painting the local cathedral with his wall frescoes and drawings. After which he founded a drawing school in the city, which he headed until 1873. He very clearly outlined the gulf that existed between the nobility and the peasants. The artist’s paintings shocked everyone with their unique and unimagined realism. The “father of Finnish painting and art” died in 1873.
Akseli Waldemar Gallen Kallela (Gallen-Kallela Akseli)
Akseli Gallen Kallela was born in the small Finnish town of Bjorneborg (modern name Pori) in April 1863. A fighter for the independence of Finland, the artist in his work tried in every possible way to depict a call to the nation to fight for the independence of their country. The modernism inherent in the painter allowed Axel Gallen Kallela to create very realistic paintings. After the end of the Finnish Civil War (1918), the artist began to study heraldry and create flag designs. In the middle of the twentieth century, the artist lived and worked for some time in the United States of America, where he successfully held exhibitions of his works. The painter died in 1931 in Stockholm, he died of pneumonia.
Conrad Oskar Kleineh
The most famous Finnish marine landscape painter was born in September 1846 in the capital of Finland. Oscar's German roots “came to the rescue”, which allowed him to study in Germany, namely in Dusseldorf. Kleinech later continued his studies in St. Petersburg and Karlsruhe. The marine painter's greatest popularity was brought to him by paintings depicting sea still lifes and landscapes; one original work was even exhibited in the St. Petersburg Hermitage. The artist died in his hometown of Helsinki in 1919.
Finnish artist Berndt Lindholm (1841-1914).Berndt Adolf Lindholm Berndt Adolf Lindholm, (Loviisa 20 August 1841 – 15 May 1914 in Gothenburg, Sweden) was a Finnish artist, is also considered one of the first Finnish impressionists. Lindholmwas also the first Scandinavian artist to go to Paris to study. PHe received his first drawing lessons in Porvoo from the artist Johan Knutson, and then transferred to the Finnish Art Society drawing school in Turku. In 1856-1861. he is a student of Ekman.V1863-1865 Lindholm continued his studies abroad at the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts.He left Germany and, together with ( Hjalmar Munsterhelm) Magnus Hjalmar Munsterhjelm (1840-1905)(Tulos October 19, 1840 - April 2, 1905) returned to his homeland in Karlsruhe (1865-1866), where he began taking private lessons fromHans Fredrik Gude (1825-1903)and then visited Paris twice in 1873-1874, where his teacher was Leon Bonnat. In Francecommunicated closely with the Barbizonian Charles-François Daubigny.He also appreciated the work of Théodore Rousseau, and admired the work of Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot.The first solo exhibition was held in Helsinki in the autumn of 1870, where Lindholm received high praise. In 1873, the Academy of Arts gave the title of academician for the painting “Forest in the Province of Savolas” and others.,in 1876 he was awarded a medal from the Philadelphia World's Fair; in 1877 he was awarded the Finnish State Prize. Lindholmlived mostly abroad. In 1876 he moved to Gothenburg and worked as a museum curator (1878-1900). He also taught at the Gothenburg School of Drawing and Painting, then was elected President of the Academy of Fine Arts and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy.He was more versatile than his artist friend and rival Magnus Hjalmar Munsterhelm, who remained faithful to the romantic landscape all his life.Initially, Lindholm also painted typical romantic landscapes, and then, under the influence of French plein air painting, he gradually became close to realism. Towards the end of his career he switched only to coastal and seascapes. It is also known that Lindholm participated in the illustration of the book by Zacharias Topelius - (Zacharias Topelius, 1818-1898) - one of the most remarkable representatives of Finnish literature. A poet, novelist, storyteller, historian and publicist, he earned love and recognition both in his homeland and far beyond its borders. Topelius wrote in Swedish, although he was also fluent in Finnish. Topelius's works have been translated into more than twenty languages. He had an unusually multifaceted talent and amazing capacity for work; the complete collection of his works contains thirty-four volumes. (Z. Topelius. Travels around Finland. Edition by F. Tilgman, 1875. Translated from Swede. F. Heuren. Contains many engravings from original paintings by A. von Becker, A. Edelfelt, R. V. Ekman, V. Holmberg, K.E. Janson, O. Kleine, I. Knutson, B. Lindholm, G. Munsterhelm and B. Reingold). Lindholm's 10 illustrations are dedicated to the Imatra Falls. In Finland, the artist's works from the period of his stay in France have not been fully appreciated; almost all of them are in private collections.
Rocky beach . Further... ">
Rocks illuminated by the sun.
Edge of a pine forest.
Forest landscape with the figure of a woodcutter.
River flowing through rocky terrain
Oat harvest.
Coastline
Winter landscape in the moonlight
View from the shore.
Boats on the pier
Stacks.
Landscape with birch trees
Seascape.
Seascape.
View of the rocks.
Yearning
Sunlight in forest.
View of Ladoga.
Fishermen in the morning fog
Ships on the horizon.
Montmarte, Paris.
From the island of Porvoo
Cows in the pasture
For many years it was believed that the portrait of Alexander III's nephews painted by Albert Edelfelt was lost or destroyed. Photo: Erkka Mikkonen / Yle
A Finnish art historian accidentally discovered a work by Albert Edelfelt that was considered lost in the collections of a Russian regional museum. The researcher would like to bring the painting to an exhibition in Finland.
A canvas by the famous Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt (1854-1905), considered lost for many years, was found in Russia in the Rybinsk Museum. Finnish art historian Sani Kontula-Webb found the painting, painted in 1881, using an Internet search engine.
“I saw the work by accident, but I identified it because I had previously carefully studied this topic.
A graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Kontula-Webb saw sketches of this work in the Athenaeum art museum in Helsinki. With the help of sketches, it was possible to establish the identity of the children depicted in the portrait: these are the nephews of the Russian Tsar Alexander III. On one of the sketches, Edelfelt indicated their names.
Art critic Sani Kontula-Webb. Photo: David Webb
The long-haired boys in the painting are dressed in dresses according to the fashion of the late 19th century. The Rybinsk Museum believed that it depicted girls. Museum workers were pleased with the new information about the painting.
“We thought that these were girls, but it turned out that they depicted the sons of Grand Duke Vladimir, Boris and Kirill,” says deputy director Sergei Ovsyannikov.
The picture tells about Edelfelt's contacts with the royal family
The work entered the collection of the Rybinsk Museum after the revolution. According to the signature on the back of the painting, it was previously in the Vladimir Palace in St. Petersburg.
Red Square, Rybinsk. Photo: Erkka Mikkonen / Yle
The discovery is given additional significance by the fact that the painting indicates close contacts between the Finnish artist and the city on the Neva and the royal family.
“It was probably this portrait that was decisive in terms of the brilliant development of Edelfelt’s career at the royal court,” notes Kontula-Webb.
Subsequently, Edelfelt painted a portrait of the children of Alexander III, Michael and Xenia, as well as several portraits of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II.
The connections of Finnish artists with Russia have so far been little studied
At one time, Edelfelt was popular in Russia. His works are kept in the collections of both the St. Petersburg Hermitage and the Moscow Pushkin Museum.
Today, Edelfelt, as well as other artists of the Golden Period of Finnish painting, are practically unknown to the Russian audience. Also, in Finnish art historical studies, attention is not particularly focused on the connections of Finnish artists with Russia.
Kontula-Webb is currently preparing a dissertation on the connections between the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and Finnish artistic life.
“I hope that thanks to this discovery, Edelfelt will be found again in Russia, and in Finland they will remember the important connections of Finnish artists with Russia.
Deputy Director of the Rybinsk Museum Sergei Ovsyannikov. Photo: Erkka Mikkonen / Yle
Kontula-Webb asked the staff of the Rybinsk Museum about the possibility of bringing the painting, which was considered lost, to an exhibition in Finland. Deputy Director Sergei Ovsyannikov reacted positively to the idea.
– If Finland wants to receive a painting for an exhibition, then we will do everything in our power to ensure that the project is a success.
Still, according to Ovsyannikov, for a potential trip to Finland, the painting needs to be restored.
Founded in 1933 in Helsinki. Initially, it united 23 artists of different specialties, by the end of the 1930s - about 45. The first chairman of the society was the architect and interior artist L. E. Kurpatov, from 1934 this post was held by E. A. Buman-Kolomiytseva, from 1935 - Baron R. A. Stackelberg (elected an honorary member in 1936), since 1936 - V. P. Shchepansky. The society held annual exhibitions of its members' work (with cash prizes awarded) and annual charity balls (usually at the Hotel Grand); a mutual aid fund operated, friendly evenings were held, and public reports on art were read. Among the reports read over the years: “Russian Theater over the Last 25 Years” by S. M. Veselov (1935), “Russian Landscape Painters” by V. P. Shchepansky (1936; dedicated to the memory of the artist M. A. Fedorova), “Culture at Home” L. E. Kurpatova (1936), etc. The Society participated in the organization of the annual Day of Russian Culture, celebrated on the birthday of A. S. Pushkin, and in 1937 - in events related to the centenary of the death of the poet. In 1934, it was decided to organize an art workshop, and in the summer they would jointly rent a summer cottage to work on sketches.
Participants in the society’s exhibitions were: M. Akutina-Shuvalova, N. P. Bely, A. P. Blaznov, N. Blinov, E. A. Buman-Kolomiytseva, P. Varlachev, V. A. Weiner, S. M. Veselov , V. I. Voutilainen, E. V. Deters, H. Dippel-Shmakov, S. Dobrovolsky, P. S. Zakharov, S. G. Irmanova, I. M. Karpinsky, I. Krasnostovsky, L. Kratz, L . L. Kuzmin, N. G. Kuzmina, I. Kurkiranta, L. E. Kurpatov, O. Kurpatova, T. Kurto, A. Lindenberg, P. Lomakin, Baroness M. B. Maydel, M. Milova, M. M. von Mingin, V. Mitinin, M.N. Nemilova, M. Pets-Blaznova, L. Platan, G. Presas, Yu. I. Repin, V. I. Repina, M. Romanov, S. Rumbin, V. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, M. A. Fedorova, T. Schwank, V. Shermanova-Brown, M. N. Shilkin, A. L. von Schultz, G. Schumacher, M. N. Shchepanskaya, V. P. Shchepansky.
With the outbreak of hostilities of the USSR against Finland in 1939, the activities of the society ceased and only became active again after the war. In 1945, the society was transformed into the Union of Russian Artists in Finland, whose chairman was I. M. Karpinsky. The following year, this organization became a collective member of the Russian Cultural-Democratic Union, and in 1947 its first exhibition was held at the Harehammer Art Salon.
Bibliography: Chronicle of the literary life of Russian abroad: Finland (1918–1938) / Compiled by: E. Hämäläinen, Yu. A. Azarov // Literary Studies Journal. Section of Language and Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences RAS. – 2006. No. 20. P. 271–319.
Contacts: Geography: Compiled by: Date entered: Fanny (Maria) Churberg born in Finland December 12, 1845 in Vaasa. Finnish landscape artist, one of the greatest masters of her time. Her father Matthias (Matias Churberg) came from a farming family, but was a doctor by profession, and her mother Maria was the daughter of a priest. Fanny was the third child in a family of seven children.Four of her siblings died in early childhood, and so Fanny grew up with two older brothers, Waldemar and Thorsten. When Fanny was twelve years old her mother died and she had to take on most of the responsibility for running the household.She was later sent to a girls' school in Porvoo and returned to Vaasa when she turned 18. INHer father died when she was 20 years old.Fanny looked after him day and night during the last months of his life.After the death of her father, she and her brothers moved to Helsinki, where they lived with their aunt. Fanny had a passion for drawing since childhood, and in 1865 finally began her artistic training in Helsinki with private lessons from Alexander Frosterus-Saltin, Emma Gylden and Adolf Berndt Lindholm ( Alexandra Frosterus-Såltin, Emma Gyldén and Berndt Adolf Lindholm).While continuing her studies in Düsseldorf in Germany, she always returned to Finland for the summer and painted a lot.She was one of the first Finnish artists to go on artistic trips to France in Paris.Although Fanny's work remained largely in the style of the Düsseldorf school of landscape painting, she openly expressed an enthusiasm for depicting primarily the countryside with its dramatic situations, relying on a technique of quick brushwork and modesty of color.Her work differed sharply from the work of her contemporaries, it depended on her own feelings of the subjects, for example, the tense atmosphere before a thunderstorm in an open area or the deep, swampy core of a forest. She perceived all this in her own way, in a Finnish way... I must say, that Fanny’s exhibition works during her time were subject to strong criticism, which, of course, undermined her fortitude and raised doubts; she sometimes lost faith in her talent, but continued to write for herself.
In the forest.
Old Vaasa, Fanny's birthplace.Drawing from 1840. Johan Knutsson Vaasa is a maritime city located in western Finland on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia. The city is the administrative center of the province of Ostrobothnia , it was in this province that Fanny’s father had an old estate, in which, having grown up, Fanny and her brothers planned to run a farm as a child... But fate decreed otherwise...
Landscape overlooking the river. The painting probably depicts the harvesting and drying of reeds on boulders.
Place on the Rhine The painting was painted while Fanny was studying in Düsseldorf, when a powerful trend in painting from life developed in artistic circles in Germany, when nature began to be considered their teacher. Artists usually went in batches to the southern Rhine....
Landscape with stacks.
Winter rye in stacks.
Spring landscape.
Waterfall.
Weathered rocks overgrown with forest.
Lunar landscape.
Forest (sketch).
Forest (sketch).
Old tree (sketch).
Summer greens.
August.
Autumn landscape.
Evening.
Winter evening.
Winter landscape.
Winter landscape after sunset.
Winter landscape.
Uusimaa.Landscape.
Twilight in the forest.
Scenery.
Lake in the Alps.
Birches near the water.
Pine.
In life, she was as lonely as this pine tree of hers... Fanny, despite the fruitful years after her studies in terms of her career as an artist - she left 300 works during this time, still lived a rather short and sad life. After the death of her parents, She remained home and, despite the fact that the elders, the brothers. It was to them, the two elder brothers, that she dedicated her life and the artist’s earnings, not so great, went to their maintenance. The old estate, which had once generated income, went for debts. Fanny became very attached to her brothers, but when she was already 32 years old, one of the brothers married and left, and when Fanny was already 37, the second died of long-term tuberculosis. She drew until she was 35 years old, and then she no longer had the desire to draw, but she remained aware of artistic life. At 37 years old, after the death of her brother, Fanny, who was already not in brilliant health, had neither the desire nor the willpower to live, and a quiet, cold October morning 1882
Lunar landscape.
she left...
Morning mood.
Scenery.
Summer landscape.
Landscape in Lapland.
Still life with vegetables and smoked herring.
