Finnish artists. Through the halls of the Ateneum Museum: the most famous and interesting exhibits Finnish artists in the Hermitage

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Sammon puolustus (1896)

Illustrations for the Kalevala. " Sampo Defense«.

Sampo(Fin. Sampo) - in Karelian-Finnish mythology, a one-of-a-kind magical object that has magical powers and is a source of happiness, prosperity and abundance. In the Kalevala epic, its creator Elias Lönnrot presented Sampo in the form of a windmill.

Hugo Simberg

halla (1895)

halla- This frost, if I understand correctly, for example, in the summer at night or early in the morning

In this sense, the picture conveys the image well.

Helene Schjerfbeck

Toipilas (1888)

toipilas — convalescent

Hugo Simberg

Kuoleman puutarha —death garden

There are several versions of this painting, this drawing is a fresco from the cathedral in Tampere.

This picture was recommended to me by a Finnish girl, when I noticed that it was somehow gloomy even for gloomy Finns, she answered me warmly: “Deaths look after flowers-people in the middle of the desert, and when they are forced to cut them, they do it gently, as if asking for forgiveness ...”

Hugo Simberg

Haavoittunut enkeli -Wounded angel
(1903)

The plot of the picture unfolds against a recognizable historical background: this is Eleintarha Park (lit. “zoo”) and Töölö Bay in Helsinki. At the beginning of the 20th century, the park was a popular recreation area for workers, and it also housed charitable institutions. The road along which the characters are moving has survived to this day: the procession moves along it towards the then existing school for blind girls and a shelter for the disabled.

The painting depicts two boys carrying on a stretcher a blindfolded effeminate angel with a bleeding wing. One of the boys stares intently and frowningly directly at the viewer, his gaze expresses either sympathy for the wounded angel, or contempt. The background landscape is deliberately harsh and sparse, but gives the impression of calm. The non-trivial plot opens up space for a wide range of interpretations. The rough clothes and shoes of the boys, their frowning, serious faces are contrasted with the fragile figure of an angel dressed in a light dress, which suggests the opposition of life and death, the blood on the wing of the angel and the blindfold is a sign of vulnerability and ephemeral existence, but in his hand the angel holds a bouquet of snowdrops is a symbol of rebirth and recovery. Life here seems to be close to death. One of the boys turned to the audience, breaking the hermetic space of the picture, thereby making it clear that the issues of life and death are directly related to them. Simberg himself refused to give any interpretation of The Wounded Angel, leaving the viewer to draw their own conclusions.

The painting had a huge impact on Finnish culture. References to it are found in many works of high and mass art. The video of the Finnish metal band Nightwish for the song "Amaranth" plays on the motif of "The Wounded Angel".

Albert Edelfelt

Pariisin Luxembourgin puistossa — In the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Akka ja kissa — old woman and cat

In Gallen-Kallela, in general, all the paintings are masterpieces, this is really a world-class artist.

This picture is written in an emphatically naturalistic manner, but, despite all its unadornedness, it is full of sympathy and love for the simplest and poorest people.

The painting was acquired by the Turku Art Museum in 1895 and is still there today.

Word akka I always translate with difficulty - both "woman" and "grandmother".

Here I will show a little taste and add one more picture Helene Schjerfbeck- in Russian we read her name Helena Schjerfbeck.

And here is a ray of light and warmth.

1882 painting, Tanssiaiskengat —dance shoes.

This is probably the saddest Finnish picture. At least in my opinion.

Albert Edelfelt

Lapsen ruumissaatto — Funeral of a child(literally Funeral procession of a child)

This is the first outdoor genre composition in Finnish visual arts. She became, as it were, a fragment of real life, seen and captured by the artist. The picture tells about human grief. Edelfelt depicted a simple family carrying a small coffin on a boat. The harsh landscape corresponds to the mood of people seeing off their child on their last journey. In their mournful faces, restrained movements - solemn sadness, which is echoed by the white still surface of the lake, the bright cold sky, the distant low shores.

"The Funeral of a Child" brought him the title of academician, and the work was bought into a private collection in Moscow. At the same time, a personal exhibition was organized in Tsarskoe Selo, and Edelfelt was presented to Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna, who was also fond of painting.

The proximity of the artist to the court helped the popularity of Finnish painting in Russia. We can say that Edelfelt was one of those who discovered the art of Finland for Russia.

In 1907 the painting returned to Finland and is now in the Ateneum Museum, Helsinki.

Still, on my own behalf, I would allow to note that in this picture the attitude of the Finns to death is very accurately conveyed (which, alas, is a part, the last part, of any life). It is very strict and restrained, here, too, there is a difference from the Russians. But this strictness and restraint does not speak of their unemotionality, it's just that the Finns carry all this deep within themselves. Deeper than we Russians. But grief from this does not cease to be grief for them.

Pekka Halonen

Tienraivaajia Karjalassa — Road builders in Karelia.

Literally it would be "road clearers in Karelia."

raivata- good verb clear the way
I don't know if it has something in common with the word raivo — rage, frenzy

But looking at this picture - we can assume that yes.

There is another feature of the Finns in the picture - historically they had to live in an extremely unfavorable natural environment, that is, sometimes they just fiercely fight for their existence, hence, probably, this perseverance that they show in work and adversity. At least that's how it used to be.

Hugo Simberg

Another picture of Hugo Simberg - " Dream«.

Simberg is rightfully considered a symbolist, his paintings are extremely open to interpretations and interpretations.

And at the same time, there is always something very national in his paintings.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Poika ja varis — The boy and the crow.

(1884) Personally, by the way, only as an adult I learned that crow (varis), relatively speaking, not a wife / female crow (korppi). As a matter of fact, such confusion occurs fortunately only in Russian. For example, in Ukrainian, a raven is a “crook”, and a crow will be a “crow”. In English, the word for raven sounds "raven", and the crow is called "crow".

The painting is now in the Ateneum.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

Lemminkäisen aiti — Lemminkäinen's mother.
(1897)

The painting is in the Ateneum, Helsinki.

The painting describes a scene from The Kalevala in which Lemminkäinen is killed and dismembered, and the body parts are thrown into the dark river, the Tuonela. The hero's mother collected the parts of her son's body with a rake, and sewed them into one whole. In the picture, she is waiting for a bee - so she looks up - which will bring magical honey from the senior god Ukko, who must resurrect Lemminkäinen.

Founded in 1933 in Helsinki. Initially, it united 23 artists of various 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 occupied by E. A. Buman-Kolomiytseva, from 1935 - Baron R. A. Shtakelberg (elected an honorary member in 1936), since 1936 - V. P. Shchepansky. The Society hosted annual exhibitions of its members' work (with cash prizes) and annual charity balls (usually at the Hotel Grand); there was a mutual benefit fund, friendly evenings were held, and public reports on art were read. Among the reports read in different years: "Russian theater over the past 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) and others. The Society participated in organizing 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 to jointly rent a summer cottage for work on sketches.

The exhibitions of the society were attended by: M. Akutina-Shuvalova, N. P. Bely, A. P. Blaznov, N. Blinov, E. A. Buman-Kolomiytseva, P. Varlachev, V. A. Veiner, 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. Maidel, 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 against Finland in 1939, the activities of the society ceased and became more active only after the war. In 1945 the society was transformed into the Union of Russian Artists in Finland, chaired by 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 Harhammer Art Salon.

Bibliography:	Chronicle of the literary life of Russian abroad: Finland (1918–1938) / Compiled by: E. Hämäläinen, Yu. A. Azarov // Literary journal. Section of Language and Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences. – 2006. No. 20. S. 271–319.
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Permanent exhibition of the Ateneum Museum occupies the third floor of the building (small thematic expositions are also arranged there), and temporary exhibitions are held on the second floor (plan of the halls). In this note, we will talk about some of the most interesting and famous paintings and sculptures in the Ateneum collection, as well as their authors: the famous Finnish painters and sculptors. More about the history of the Ateneum museum and the architecture of the museum building can be read. It also provides useful information about ticket prices, opening hours and the procedure for visiting the Ateneum Museum. Attention: not always in the museum you can see all the famous works at the same time.

Works of Finnish sculptors

Let's start our walk through the Ateneum museum right from the entrance.

In the lobby we are greeted by a marble group " Apollo and Marsyas» (1874) by the famous Finnish sculptor Walter Runeberg (Walter Magnus Runeberg) (1838-1920), author of monuments to Johan Runeberg and Emperor Alexander II in Helsinki. The sculptor's father, the poet Johan Runeberg, a representative of the national romantic trend in literature, introduced the ideals of Greek and Roman civilization into Finnish culture, including the value of courage and devotion. His son continued to express these ideals, but by means of sculpture. In 1858-62. Walter Runeberg studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen under the guidance of the Danish sculptor Hermann Wilhelm Bissen, a student of the famous Thorvaldsen, an internationally recognized master of neoclassical sculpture. In 1862-1876. Runeberg worked in Rome, continuing to study the classical heritage.

In this sculptural group, Runeberg depicted the god of light, Apollo, defeating the satyr Marsyas with his art, personifying darkness and earthiness. The figure of Apollo is made in the spirit of ancient ideals, while this image is clearly opposed to the baroque-wild shepherd Marsyas. The composition was originally intended to decorate the new Helsinki Student House and was commissioned by the sorority, but then the ladies apparently decided that there was too much nudity in Runeberg's sculpture. One way or another, in the end, the work was presented as a gift to the Art Society of Finland - and so it ended up in the collection of the Ateneum Museum.

At the entrance to the main exhibition halls of the Ateneum on the third floor, you can see some more interesting works Finnish sculptors. Particularly attractive are marble and bronze sculptures, elegant figurines and vases made by Ville Wallgren (Ville Wallgren) (1855–1940).Ville Wallgren was one of the first Finnish sculptors who, after receiving a basic education in Finland, decided to continue his studies not in Copenhagen, but in Paris. His choice was influenced by the well-known artist Albert Edelfelt, also a native of Porvoo. Edelfelt helped the impulsive countryman in other life and professional matters: for example, it was with his help that Wallgren received an order to complete the famous Havis Amanda fountain (1908) on Esplanade Boulevard in.

Ville Wallgren, who lived in France for almost 40 years, is best known for his sensual female figures in the Art Nouveau style. However, at an early stage of his work, he often portrayed young men and adhered to a more classical style (examples are poetic marble sculptures " Echo" (1887) and " boy playing with crab(1884), in which Wallgren connects human characters and the natural world).

At the end of the 19th century, Ville Wallgren gained worldwide fame as a remarkable master of decorative figurines, as well as vases, funerary urns and teardrops, decorated with figures of mourning mourning girls. But with no less persuasiveness, bon vivant Wallgren portrayed the joys of life, including flirtatious and seductive women, such as the same Havis Amanda. In addition to the aforementioned sculpture "Boy Playing with a Crab" (1884), on the third floor of the Ateneum museum you can see bronze works by Wille Wallgren: "Teardrop" (1894), "Spring (Renaissance)" (1895), "Two young people" (1893) and a vase (c. 1894). These exquisite works with perfectly worked out details are small in size, but they make a strong emotional impression and are remembered for their beauty.

Ville Wallgren has come a long way to a career as a sculptor, but once he found his direction and enlisted the support of professionals, he became one of the most respected and internationally recognized artists in history. Finnish art. For example, he was the only Finn who received the Grand Prix medal for his work at the World Exhibition in Paris (this happened in 1900). Wallgren first attracted the attention of colleagues and critics during the World Exhibition of 1889, where his relief "Christ" was presented. Once again, the Finnish sculptor made himself known during the symbolist Parisian salons Rose + Croix in 1892 and 1893. Wallgren's wife was the Swedish artist and sculptor Antoinette Rostrem ( Antoinette Råström) (1858-1911).

Golden Age of Finnish Art: Albert Edelfelt, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Eero Järnefelt, Pekka Halonen

In one of the largest halls on the third floor the Ateneum Museum classical paintings are presented, including the work of friend Ville Wallgren - Albert Edelfelt (Albert Edelfelt) (1854-1905), the most widely known in the world Finnish artist.

The attention of the audience is necessarily attracted by the fabulous picture " Queen Blanca"(1877) - one of the most popular and beloved paintings in Finland, a real hymn to motherhood. Printed reproductions of this painting and embroideries depicting it can be found in thousands of homes throughout the country. Edelfelt was inspired by the short story "The Nine Silversmiths" by Zacharias Topelius ( De nio silverpenningarna), in which the medieval Queen of Sweden and Norway, Blanca of Namur, entertains her son, Prince Hakon Magnusson, the future husband of Margaret I of Denmark, with songs. The result of this marriage, organized just Queen Blanca, became the union of Sweden, Norway and Denmark - the Kalmar Union (1397-1453). Pretty Blanca sings about all these future events to her little son.

In the era of the creation of this canvas, historical painting was considered the most noble form of art and was in demand by the educated sections of Finnish society, since the national identity at that time was just beginning to take shape. Albert Edelfelt was only 22 years old when he decided to create a painting on the theme of medieval Scandinavian history, and Queen Blanca became his first serious work. The artist sought to meet the expectations of his people and embody the historical scene as vividly and authentically as possible (at the time of painting, Edelfelt lived in a cramped attic in Paris and, at the insistence of his teacher Jean-Leon Gerome, studied the costumes of that period, read books about medieval architecture and furniture, visited the medieval Cluny Museum). Look at the skill with which the shining silk of the queen's dress, the bearskin on the floor and many other details are written out (the artist specially rented the bearskin in the department store). But the main thing in the picture, at least for the modern viewer (and for Edelfelt himself, who loved his mother more than anyone in the world), is its warm emotional content: the mother’s face and the gestures of the child, which express love, joy and intimacy.

A beautiful 18-year-old Parisian served as the model for Queen Blanca, and a pretty Italian boy posed for the Prince. Painting "Queen Blanca" was first presented to the public in 1877 at the Paris Salon, was a great success and was replicated in French art publications. Then she was shown in Finland, after which the canvas was sold to Aurora Karamzina. Subsequently, the painting ended up in the collection of magnate Hjalmar Linder, who donated it the Ateneum Museum in 1920.

Another example of early creativity Albert Edelfelt the mournful painting " Funeral of a child"("Transportation of the coffin") (1879). We have already said that in his youth Edelfelt was going to become a history painter; he prepared himself for this while studying in Antwerp, and then in Paris. But by the end of the 1870s, his ideals had changed, he became friends with the French artist Bastien-Lepage and became a preacher of plein air painting. Next works Edelfelt are already a realistic reflection of peasant life and the living life of their native land. But the painting "The Funeral of a Child" does not just reflect the scene of everyday life: it conveys one of the fundamental human emotions - grief.

That year, Edelfelt visited for the first time the dacha rented by his mother on the Haikko estate near Porvoo (later the artist came to these beautiful places every summer). The picture was painted entirely in the open air, for which a large canvas had to be attached to coastal boulders so that it would not flutter in the wind. “I didn’t think it was so difficult to paint outdoors,” Edelfelt told one of his friends. Edelfelt sketched the weathered faces of the inhabitants of the Porvoo archipelago, went out to sea with fishermen more than once, and even specially placed a sawn-off fishing boat in his workshop to accurately reproduce the details. Edelfelt painting « Funeral of a Child" was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1880 and was awarded a 3rd degree medal (for the first time Finnish artist received such an honor). French critics noted the various merits of the picture, including the fact that it is devoid of excessive sentimentality, but reflects the dignity with which the characters accept the inevitable.

The picture is imbued with a completely different, sunny and carefree mood. Albert Edelfelt « luxembourg garden» (1887). When Edelfelt painted this canvas, he was already a very famous figure in the Parisian art world. Fascinated by the Parisian parks with numerous children and nannies enjoying the good weather, he decided to capture this beauty. By that time, the painter had already lived in Paris for more than ten years, and it is even strange that this painting is his only major work depicting Parisian life. This is probably due to the fierce competition among artists: it was easier to stand out in this environment, working on more “exotic” Finnish subjects. The painting “Luxembourg Gardens” is also unusual in that Edelfelt used many techniques of impressionism in it. At the same time, unlike the Impressionists, he worked on this canvas for more than a year, both in the open air and in the studio. Work was often slowed down for banal reasons: due to bad weather or late models. The self-critical Edelfelt repeatedly reworked the canvas, making changes until the last moment, when it was time to take the work to the exhibition.

The painting was shown for the first time at an exhibition in Galerie Petit in May 1887. Edelfelt himself was not very satisfied with the result: against the background of color explosions in the paintings of the French Impressionists, his canvas looked, as it seemed to him, anemic, “liquid”. However, the work was well received by critics and the public. Subsequently, this painting became a kind of symbol of the close ties of Finnish art - and Edelfelt in particular - with Paris, which at that time was the epicenter of the artistic universe.

Picture " Women at the church in Ruokolahti» (1887) Albert Edelfelt wrote in his summer workshop in Haikko - there he created almost all of his works on the theme of folk life. Although the painting reflects the impressions of a trip to Eastern Finland, it is known that women from Haikko were the models for the painting (photographs of them posing for Edelfelt in his studio have been preserved). Like other large compositions, this one was not created overnight, careful preliminary sketches were always made. However, the main goal of the artist has always been to achieve a spontaneous, live effect of the "snapshot".

Next to the works of Albert Edelfelt in the Ateneum Museum, you can see paintings by another representative of the golden age of Finnish art, Eero Jarnefelta (Eero Järnefelt) (1863-1937). After finishing his studies in Finland, Järnefelt went to Saint Petersburg where he studied at Academy of Arts with his uncle Mikhail Klodt, became close to Repin and Korovin, and then went to continue his education in Paris. Despite foreign influences, Järnefelt's work reflects the search for national identity, the desire to emphasize the peculiar nature of his native culture ( more about creativity Eero Jarnefelta read ).

Jarnefelt is best known as a portrait painter and author of the majestic landscapes of the Koli area and the surroundings of Lake Tuusulanjärvi, where his villa-studio Suviranta was located (next door was the Ainola house, where the composer Sibelius lived with his wife, Jarnefelt's sister).

But the most important and famous work of Eero Järnefelt is, of course, the painting "Under the yoke" ("Burning out the forest")(1893) (other variants of the name - " Back bending for money», « forced labor"). The plot of the canvas is connected with the ancient method of farming, which consists in burning the forest to obtain arable land (the so-called slash-and-burn agriculture). The painting was created in the summer of 1893 on a farm Rannan Puurula in Lapinlahti, in the Northern Savo region. That year the frost ruined the harvest for the second time. Järnefelt worked on the farm of a wealthy family and observed the harsh living and working conditions of landless workers who were paid for their work only if the harvest was good. In parallel, Järnefelt made sketches of a burning forest landscape, studied the behavior of fire and smoke, and also filmed villagers, who eventually became the main characters of his picture.

Only one character in the picture looks directly at the viewer: this is a girl who interrupted work for a while and looks at us with an expression of reproach. Her stomach was swollen with hunger, her face and clothes were blackened with soot, and around her head Jarnefelt depicted smoke resembling a halo. The artist painted this image from a 14-year-old girl named Johanna Kokkonen ( Johanna Kokkonen), servants on the farm. The person in the foreground is Heikki Puurunen ( Heikki Puurunen), the farmer's brother, and the owner of the farm is depicted in the background.

Looking at the picture, you can literally feel the heat of the fire, hear the muffled noise of the flame and the crunch of branches. The picture has several interpretations, but its main meaning is seen as harsh criticism of the oppressed people. The girl from the picture has become a generalized image of all the poor and hungry children, all the disadvantaged people of Finland. The canvas was first presented to the public in 1897.

An entire large hall Ateneum Museum dedicated to the work of another famous representative of the golden age of Finnish fine arts - Akseli Gallena-Kallela (Akseli Gallen-Kallela) (1865-1931). Like other major Finnish artists of that period, he studied at. Gallen-Kallela received special attention of the Parisian public during the World Exhibition of 1900, when he executed a number of frescoes for the Finnish pavilion based on the Finnish epic Kalevala.

During study in paris Gallen-Kallela often sketched scenes he noticed on the streets and in cafes. An example of the creativity of this period is the painting "Nude" ("Without a mask") (Demasquee ) (1888) - almost the only erotic canvas in the work of Gallen-Kallela. It is known that it was created by a 23-year-old artist commissioned by the Finnish collector and philanthropist Fridtjof Antell, who wanted to replenish his collection of sexually explicit paintings. However, when Antell saw the painting, he refused to take it, apparently considering the painting too obscene even for his taste.

The painting depicts a naked Parisian woman (apparently a prostitute) sitting in the artist's studio on a sofa covered with a traditional Finnish carpet. The picture gives an idea of ​​the bohemian lifestyle, but at the same time hints that his joys are fraught with death, a fall. The artist depicts a lily symbolizing innocence, which is contrasted with an emphatically sensual model and a guitar, whose shape further enhances the erotic feeling. The woman looks both seductive and intimidating. Crucifix, Buddha statue and antique Finnish carpet ruyu, depicted next to the self-satisfied female flesh, allude to the desecration of the saint. A skull grinned on the table in the background - a frequent element in the paintings of the Vanitas genre, reminding the viewer of the frailty of earthly pleasures and the inevitability of death. canvas Demasquee was first exhibited in Ateneum Museum in 1893.

Many later works Gallena-Kallela dedicated "Kalevale". When depicting such heroes of the Finnish epic as Väinämöinen and Lemminkäinen, the artist uses a special style, harsh and expressive, full of inimitably bright colors and stylized ornaments. From this cycle, it is worth noting the stunning picture “ Lemminkäinen's mother» (1897). Although the painting is an illustration of the epic, it has a more global, universal sound and can be considered a kind of Northern Pieta. This piercing song of motherly love is one of the most stunning works of Gallen-Kallela on the theme " Kalevala».

Lemminkäinen's mother- a cheerful guy, a clever hunter and seducer of women - finds his son at the black river of Death (Tuonela River), where he tried to shoot the sacred swan. The swan is depicted in the dark water in the background, and skulls and bones are scattered on the rocky shore and flowers of death sprout. The Kalevala tells how a mother combs the water with a long rake, rakes out all the pieces and re-folds her son out of them. With the help of spells and ointments, she revives Lemminkäinen. The picture depicts the moment that precedes the resurrection. It seems that everything is gone, but the sun's rays penetrate into the realm of the dead, giving hope, and the bee carries a life-giving divine balm for the resurrection of the hero. Dark, muted colors heighten the stillness of this underworld, while the intense blood-red moss on the rocks, the deathly whiteness of Lemminkäinen's plants and skin, contrast with the divine golden color of the bee and the beams pouring down from the sky.

For this painting, the artist was posed by his own mother. He managed to create a very realistic image with a lively, intense look (this is a genuine emotion: Gallen-Kallela deliberately spoke to his mother about something sad, causing her to cry). At the same time, the picture is stylized, which allows creating a special mythical atmosphere, the feeling that events are taking place “on the other side” of reality. To enhance the emotional impact, Gallen-Kallela used tempera instead of oil paints. Simplified forms, clear contours of figures and large color planes help to create a powerful composition. In order to better convey the gloomy mood of the picture, the artist equipped a completely black room in his studio house in Ruovesi, the only source of lighting in which was a skylight. In addition, he photographed himself lying naked on the floor and used these pictures when he painted the figure of Lemminkäinen.

In a completely different, idyllic and almost frivolous style, the triptych of Gallen-Kallela " Legend of Aino» (1891). The composition is dedicated to the plot from Kalevala about the young girl Aino and the old sage Väinämöinen. Aino, by the decision of her parents, was to be given in marriage to Väinämöinen, but she runs away from him, preferring to drown herself. On the left side of the triptych, the first meeting of an old man and a girl dressed in a traditional Karelian outfit in the forest is shown, and on the right side we see the sad Aino. Preparing to throw herself into the water, she cries on the shore, listening to the calls of the sea maidens playing in the water. Finally, the central panel depicts the end of the story: Väinämöinen takes a boat out to sea and goes fishing. Having caught a small fish, he does not recognize in it the girl who drowned through his fault and throws the fish back into the water. But at that moment, the fish turns into Aino - a mermaid who laughs at the old man who missed her and then disappears into the waves forever.

Early 1890s Gallen-Kallela was a supporter of naturalism, and he definitely needed genuine models for all the figures and objects in the picture. So, for the image of Väinämöinen with his long beautiful beard, a resident of one of the Karelian villages posed for the artist. In addition, the artist dried perches to achieve the most accurate image of a fish frightened by an old man. Even the silver bracelet that glitters on Aino's hand existed in reality: Gallen-Kallela presented this jewelry to his young wife Mary. She apparently served as a model for Aino. The landscapes for the triptych were sketched by the artist during their honeymoon in Karelia.

The composition is framed by a wooden frame with ornaments and quotations from the Kalevala written by the hand of Gallen-Kallela himself. This triptych became the starting point of the movement national romanticism in Finland- Finnish version of Art Nouveau. The artist made the first version of this painting in Paris in 1888-89. (now owned by the Bank of Finland). When the painting was first presented in Helsinki, it was met with great enthusiasm, and the Senate decided to order a new version at public expense. Such an idea looks quite natural in the wake of the Fennomani movement, who idealized and romanticized the Finnish nation. In addition, art was perceived as a powerful means of expressing Finnish national ideals. At the same time, expeditions of artists to Karelia began in search of a "real Finnish style." Karelia was seen as the only untouched land where traces of the Kalevala were preserved, and Gallen-Kallela himself perceived this epic as a story about past times of national greatness, as an image of a lost paradise.

Painting by Gallen-Kallela " Curse of Kullervo"(1899) tells about another hero of the Kalevala. Kullervo was a youth of extraordinary strength, an orphan who was given into slavery and sent into the wilderness to herd cows. The evil mistress, the wife of the blacksmith Ilmarinen, gave him bread for the journey, in which a stone was hidden. Trying to cut the bread, Kullervo broke the knife, the only memory of his father. Enraged, he gathers a new herd of wolves, bears and lynxes, which tear apart the mistress. Kullervo escapes from slavery and returns home after learning that his family is alive. However, Kullervo's misadventures do not end there. An endless spiral of revenge destroys not only his newfound family, but himself. He first meets and seduces a girl who turns out to be his sister, and because of this sinful relationship, the sister commits suicide. Soon all his relatives die. Then Kullervo kills himself by throwing himself on the sword.

The painting by Gallen-Kallela shows an episode when Kullervo is still serving as a shepherd (his herd is visible in the background, and bread with a baked stone is depicted in front). The young man shakes his fist and vows to take revenge on his enemies. The artist depicted the enraged hero against the backdrop of a sunny landscape of early autumn, but clouds are already gathering in the background, and the rowan poured red serves as a warning, a prophecy of future bloodshed. In this picture, tragedy is combined with the beauty of Karelian nature, and the avenging hero can, in a sense, be seen as a symbol of Finnish fighting spirit and growing national consciousness. On the other hand, we have before us a portrait of anger and disappointment, the impotence of a man who was brought up by strangers who exterminated his family, in an atmosphere of violence and revenge, and this left a tragic imprint on his fate.

More about creativity Gallena-Kallela read .

We conclude this section with a story about the work of another prominent representative of Finnish national romanticism in painting, the famous artist of the Finnish Golden Age - Pekka Halonen. Pekka Halonen (Pekka Halonen) (1865-1933) rose to prominence in the 1890s, proving himself a consummate master of winter scenery. One of the masterpieces of this genre is the painting " Young pines under the snow"(1899), considered an example Finnish Japaneseism and Art Nouveau in painting. Soft fluffy snow covering the seedlings, playing with different shades of white, creates a peaceful atmosphere of a forest fairy tale. The foggy air is saturated with cold winter haze, and lush layers of snow emphasize the fragile beauty of young pines. Trees in general were one of the favorite motifs in creativity. Pekki Halonena. Throughout his life, he enthusiastically depicted trees at different times of the year, and he especially loved spring, but nevertheless he became most famous precisely as a master. winter scenery- few painters dared to create in the cold. Pekka Halonen was not afraid of winter and worked outdoors in any weather throughout his life. A supporter of plein air work, he was scornful of artists who "look at the world through a window." In Halonen's paintings, branches crack from frost, trees sag under the weight of snow caps, the sun casts bluish shadows on the ground, and forest dwellers leave footprints on a soft white carpet.

Winter landscapes became a kind of national symbol of Finland, and Pekka Halonen made a dozen canvases on the theme of Finnish nature and folk life for the Finnish pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. This cycle includes, for example, the painting “ At the hole"(Washing on Ice") (1900). Halonen's interest in depicting "northern exoticism" arose while studying with Paul Gauguin in Paris in 1894.

Typically, artists the golden age of Finnish painting came from the urban middle class. Another thing is Pekka Halonen, who came from a family of enlightened peasants and artisans. He was born in Lapinlahti (Eastern Finland) and quite early became interested in art - not only painting, but also music (the artist’s mother was a gifted kantele performer; she also instilled in her son a caring attitude and love for nature, and later this love turned almost into a religion ). The young man began to study painting a little later than his peers, but after four years of study at the drawing school of the Art Society of Finland and an excellent graduation from it, Halonen was able to receive a scholarship that allowed him to go to study in the artistic Mecca of that time. He first studied at the Académie Julian, and then, in 1894, began taking private lessons from Paul Gauguin along with his friend Vyaino Bloomstead. During this period, Halonen became acquainted with symbolism, synthetism, and even theosophy. Acquaintance with the latest artistic trends, however, did not lead him to abandon the realistic manner, and he did not borrow the bright palette of Gauguin, however, under the influence of Gauguin, Halonen became a deep connoisseur of Japanese art and began to collect copies of Japanese engravings.

For example, his work often features a curved pine tree, a popular motif in Japanese art. In addition, in many paintings, Halonen pays special attention to detail, decorative patterns of branches or a special pattern of snow, and the theme of winter landscapes itself is not uncommon in Japanese art. Also, Halonen is characterized by a preference for vertical narrow canvases such as "kakemono", asymmetrical compositions, close-ups and unusual angles. Unlike many other landscape painters, he did not paint typical panoramic views from above; his landscapes are painted deep in the forest, close to nature, where the trees literally surround the viewer, inviting him into his silent world. It was Gauguin who inspired Halonen to discover his own style in depicting nature and encouraged him to look for his themes in national roots. Like Gauguin, Halonen sought to find something primary, primordial, with the help of his art, but only if the Frenchman was looking for his ideal in the Pacific islands, then the Finnish artist sought to revive the “lost paradise” of the Finnish people in virgin forests, the sacred wilds described in Kalevala .

The work of Pekka Halonen has always been distinguished by the search for peace and harmony. The artist believed that "art should not irritate the nerves like sandpaper - it should create a sense of peace." Even depicting peasant labor, Halonen achieved calm, balanced compositions. So, in work Pioneers in Karelia» (« Road construction in Karelia”) (1900) he presented Finnish peasants as independent, intelligent workers who did not need to make excessive efforts to get the job done. In addition, the artist emphasized that he was striving to create a general decorative impression. This was his response to contemporaries who criticized the unrealistic "serene Sunday mood" of the picture and were surprised by the too clean clothes of the workers, the small amount of shavings on the ground and the strange appearance of the boat in the middle of the forest. But the artist had a completely different idea. Pekka Halonen did not want to create a picture of hard, exhausting work, but to convey the calm, measured rhythm of peasant labor.

Halonen was also greatly influenced by his trips to Italy (1896-97 and 1904), including early Renaissance masterpieces he saw in Florence. Subsequently, Pekka Halonen with his wife and children (the couple had eight children in total) moved to Lake Tuusula, whose quiet picturesque surroundings served as an inexhaustible source of inspiration and fruitful work away from Helsinki, "the source of everything prosaic and ugly." Here, skiing on the lake, the artist looked for a place for his future home, and in 1899 the couple bought a plot on the shore, where a few years later Pekka Halonen's studio house grew up - a villa named by him Haloseniemi (Halosenniemi) (1902). This cozy wooden dwelling in the national romantic spirit was designed by the artist himself. Today, the house houses the Pekka Halonen Museum.

Finnish Symbolists

One of the most interesting sections in the collection of the Ateneum Museum is the unique work of Hugo Simberg and other Finnish symbolists.

In a separate room of the Ateneum museum, the famous painting “ Wounded angel» (1903) Finnish artist Hugo Simberg. This melancholy canvas depicts a strange procession: two sullen boys carry on a stretcher a girl dressed in white, an angel, blindfolded and with a wounded wing. The background of the picture is a bare landscape of early spring. In the hand of the angel is a bouquet of snowdrops, the first flowers of spring, symbols of healing and new life. . The procession is led by a boy dressed in black, resembling an undertaker (probably a symbol of Death). The look of another boy is turned to us, penetrating directly into the soul of the viewer and reminding us that the topics of life and death are relevant to each of us. The fallen angel, the expulsion from paradise, thoughts about death - all these topics were of particular concern to artists - symbolists. The artist himself refused to offer any ready-made interpretations of the painting, leaving the viewer to draw their own conclusions.

Hugo Simberg worked on this painting for a long time: the first sketches are found in his albums from 1898. Some sketches and photographs reflect individual fragments of the composition. Sometimes an angel is driven in a wheelbarrow, sometimes not boys, but little devils are represented as porters, at the same time, the figure of an angel always remains central, and the background is a real landscape. The process of working on the painting was interrupted when Simberg became seriously ill: from the autumn of 1902 to the spring of 1903, the artist was treated at the hospital of the Deaconess Institute in Helsinki ( Helsingin Diakonissalaitos) in the Kallio area. He had a severe nervous illness, aggravated by syphilis (from which the artist subsequently died).

It is known that Simberg photographed his models (children) in the workshop and in the Eleintarcha park, located next to the aforementioned hospital. The path depicted in the picture still exists today - it runs along the coast of Töölönlahti Bay. During Simberg's time, Eleintarcha Park was a popular working-class recreational area. In addition, many charitable institutions were located there, including a girls' school for the blind and an orphanage for the disabled. Simberg repeatedly observed the inhabitants of the park when he walked there in the spring of 1903, setting off from a serious illness. Apparently, during these long walks, the idea of ​​​​the picture took shape finally. In addition to philosophical interpretations of the painting “The Wounded Angel” (a symbol of expulsion from paradise, a sick human soul, a person’s helplessness, a broken dream), some see it as the personification of the artist’s painful state and even specific physical symptoms (according to some reports, Simberg also suffered from meningitis).

Simberg's painting Wounded angel was a great success immediately after its completion. The presentation took place at the autumn exhibition of the Art Society of Finland in 1903. Initially, the canvas was exhibited without a title (more precisely, instead of a title there was a dash), which hinted at the impossibility of any one interpretation. For this deeply individual and emotional work, the artist was awarded a state prize in 1904. The second version of The Wounded Angel was executed by Simberg while decorating the interior of the Tampere Cathedral with frescoes, where he worked together with Magnus Enckel.

According to a survey conducted in Finland in 2006, “ Wounded angel”was recognized as the most popular work in the Ateneum collection, the most beloved “national painting” of Finland, and the artistic symbol of the country.

Hugo Simberg (Hugo Simberg) (1873-1917) was born in the city of Hamina, then lived and studied in, and then in, where he attended the school of the Art Society of Finland. He often spent summers at the family estate in Niemenlautta (Syakkijärvi) on the coast of the Gulf of Finland. Simberg traveled extensively in Europe, visited London and Paris, visited Italy and the Caucasus. An important stage in his development as an artist came at a time when Simberg, disillusioned with the stereotypical academic education, began to take private lessons from Akseli Gallen-Kallela in a remote area in Ruovesi, where Gallen-Kallela built his workshop house. Gallen-Kallela highly valued his student's talent and predicted a great future for him in the art world, comparing Simberg's work with truthful and passionate sermons that everyone should hear. Simberg visited Ruovesi three times between 1895 and 1897. Here, in an atmosphere of artistic freedom, he quickly found his own language. For example, in the first autumn of his stay in Ruovesi, he wrote the famous work “ Freezing(1895), somewhat reminiscent of Munch's The Scream. In this case, the weather phenomenon, the fear of farmers around the world, has received a visible embodiment, face and form: it is a deathly pale figure with large ears, sitting on top of a sheaf and poisoning everything around with its deadly breath. Unlike Munch's The Scream, completed a few years earlier, Simberg's Frost evokes not complete horror and despair, but a strange feeling of threat and pity at the same time.

An important moment in Simberg's life was the autumn exhibition of 1898, after which he was admitted to the Union of Finnish Artists. Simberg traveled extensively in Europe, taught and participated in exhibitions. However, the scale of the artist's talent was truly appreciated only after his death. The focus on the creepy and the supernatural was far from being understood by all critics and viewers of that time.

Hugo Simberg was one of the largest Finnish Symbolists. He was attracted not by banal everyday situations - on the contrary, he depicted something that opened doors to another reality, touched the mind and soul of the viewer. He understood art “as an opportunity to transfer a person in the middle of winter to a beautiful summer morning and feel how nature wakes up and you yourself are in harmony with it. That's what I'm looking for in a work of art. It should speak to us about something and speak loudly, so that we are carried away to another world.

Simberg was especially fond of depicting what can only be seen in the imagination: angels, devils, trolls and images of Death itself. However, even these images he gave softness and humanity. Death in Simberg is often benevolent and full of sympathy, performing his duties without enthusiasm. Here she came with three white flowers to pick up the old woman. However, Death is in no hurry, she can afford to listen to the boy playing the violin. Only the clock on the wall marks the passage of time (" Death listens", 1897).

In work " death garden”(1896), created during the first study trip to Paris, Simberg, as he himself said, depicted the place where the human soul goes immediately after death, before going to heaven. Three skeletons in black robes tenderly care for plant souls with the same love as monks care for a monastery garden. This work was of great importance for the artist. Almost ten years later, Simberg repeated it in the form of a large fresco in the Tampere Cathedral. The strange charm of this work lies in cute everyday details (a watering can, a towel hanging from a hook), a peaceful atmosphere and a meek image of Death itself, which is not a force of destruction, but the embodiment of care. Interestingly, in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Story of a Mother" we also find a similar image: the storyteller describes a huge greenhouse of Death - a greenhouse, where a human soul is "fixed" behind each flower or tree. Death calls himself God's gardener: "I take his flowers and trees and transplant them into the great garden of Eden, into an unknown land."

First image of Death appeared in Simberg's work " Death and the peasant» (1895). A short black cape and short pants give Death a mild, downcast look. This work was done by Simberg in Ruovesi while studying with Akseli Gallen-Kallela. That spring the teacher's youngest daughter died of diphtheria, and "Death and the Peasant" can be seen as an expression of sympathy for a man who has lost a child.

Like devils, Hugo Simberg's angels are humanized and therefore vulnerable. They are trying to direct people to the path of goodness, but the reality is far from ideal. Job " Dream”(1900) raises questions from the viewer. Why is a woman crying while an angel is dancing with her husband? Perhaps the husband leaves his wife for another world? Another name for this work was "Repentance", so it can be interpreted in different ways.

The images of angels first appeared in the work of Simberg in the autumn of 1895 (the work " Piety"). In this mischievous piece, the praying angel-girl does not notice that the neighboring angel has something completely different in mind. And indeed, the wings of this second angel are far from being so white. There is a struggle between sensuality and spirituality.

The embankment in the Niemenlautta area, where Simberg almost always spent his summer time at the family home, was a popular meeting place for young people on summer evenings. Attracted by the sounds of the accordion, young men and women went here to dance by boat, even from afar. Simberg repeatedly made sketches of dancers. But at work Dance on the waterfront"(1899) the girls do not dance with the guys, but with the figures of Death, so often found in Simberg. Maybe Death this time did not come for a terrible harvest, but simply wants to take part in the general fun? For some reason the accordion is not playing.

As you can see Hugo Simberg- a highly original artist, whose work is not devoid of a peculiar irony, but at the same time is permeated with mysticism and focuses on the themes of good and evil, life and death, characteristic of art symbolists. In the works of Simberg, deep philosophical questions are intertwined with gentle humor and deep sympathy. "Poor devil", "meek Death", the king of brownies - all these characters came to his work from dreams and fairy tales. No gilded frames and shiny canvases: “Only love makes works of art real. If labor pains come without love, then the child will be born unhappy.

In addition to the works of Hugo Simberg, the Ateneum Museum displays the works of Finnish symbolist painter Magnus Enkel (Magnus Enckell) (1870-1925), like Simberg, who worked on frescoes for the Tampere Cathedral (1907). Enkel was born into a family of a priest in the city of Hamina, studied painting in, and in 1891 went to Paris, where he continued his education at the Julian Academy. There he became interested in the symbolism and mystical ideas of the Rosicrucian J. Peladan. From the latter, Magnus Enkel adopted the androgynous ideal of beauty, which he began to use in his works. Enckel was fascinated by the idea of ​​a lost paradise, a lost purity of man, and very young boys with their androgynous beauty represented for the artist the purest form of a human being. It should also not be forgotten that Enkel was a homosexual and often painted naked boys and men of a frankly erotic, sensual appearance. In 1894-95. the artist traveled around Italy and at the beginning of the 20th century, under the influence of classical Italian art, as well as post-impressionism, his palette becomes much more colorful and light. In 1909, along with the colorists Werner Thomé and Alfred Finch, he founded the group September.

The early work of Magnus Enkel, on the contrary, is marked by a muted range, color asceticism. At that time, the artist's palette was limited to shades of gray, black and ocher. An example is the painting Awakening"(1894), written by Enkel during the artist's second visit to. The canvas is distinguished by color minimalism, a simplified composition and an underlined line of the drawing - all this is used to emphasize the significance of the image. The young man, who has reached the age of puberty, has woken up and is sitting naked on the bed, his head bowed with a serious expression on his face, immersed in his thoughts. The twisted posture of his body is not just a familiar gesture of getting out of bed; this motif, often found among symbolist artists, is more complex. Puberty and sexual awakening/loss of innocence were themes that attracted many of Enckel's contemporaries (cf., for example, Munch's disturbing painting Maturation (1894/95)). The black and white gamma emphasizes the melancholy mood of the meeting with the oppressive world.

Another Finnish symbolist painter, although not the best known, is Väinö Bloomstedt (Blomstedt) (Vaino Blomstedt) (1871-1947). Bloomstedt was an artist and textile designer and was influenced by Japanese art in particular. He studied first in Finland, and then with Pekka Halonen in. As we already know, during their visit to Paris, these Finnish artists met Gauguin, who had recently returned from Tahiti, and began to take lessons from him. The impulsive Bloomstedt instantly fell under the influence of Gauguin and his color-breathing canvases. The search for the lost paradise in the work of Gauguin was very close to Bloomstedt. Only if Gauguin was looking for this paradise in exotic countries, then Väinö Bloomstedt, like many Finnish artists of that time, was aimed at searching for the origins of his homeland, the virgin land of Kalevala. The heroes of Bloomstedt's paintings are often imaginary or mythological characters.

After meeting Gauguin, Bloomstedt abandoned realistic painting in the mid-1890s and turned to symbolism and bright multicolor synthetic palette. According to the ideology of symbolism, realistic art based on visual observation is too limited and does not allow one to capture the most important thing in a person, his emotional and spiritual essence, the secret of life itself. Beyond everyday reality lies another world, and the goal of the Symbolists is to express this world through art. Instead of trying to create a three-dimensional illusion of reality, symbolist artists resorted to stylization, simplification, decorativeness, sought to find something pure and poetic. Hence their interest in the early Italian Renaissance, the use of tempera and fresco techniques. One of the clearest examples symbolism in the work of Finnish artists is a picture Väinö Bloomstedt « Francesca"(1897), immersing the viewer in the world of sleep and oblivion, a static and magical atmosphere with the intoxicating smell of poppy.

The inspiration for this painting was Dante's Divine Comedy, in which the poet meets Francesca da Rimini in hell and she tells him the story of her tragic love for Paolo. The image of a girl reminiscent of the Madonna, the “Renaissance” landscape with dark cypresses and the translucent color surface of the painting (the canvas clearly shines through the colors) suggests old frescoes in Italian churches. In addition, due to the special technique of execution, the picture partly resembles a shabby tapestry. The painting was painted by Bloomstedt during a trip to Italy. It also sees the influence of the art of the Pre-Raphaelites.

Women in Art: Finnish Artists

Ateneum Museum is also notable for the fact that a significant part of his collection is made up of works female artists, including world famous ones such as Finnish artist Helena Schjerfbeck. In 2012, the Ateneum Museum hosted an extensive exhibition of Helena Schjerfbeck's works, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of her birth. The Ateneum Museum houses the largest and most complete collection of Helena Schjerfbeck's works in the world (212 paintings, drawings, sketchbooks).

Helena Schjerfbeck (Helena Schjerfbeck) (1862-1946) was born in Helsinki, began to study painting early and already in her youth achieved a noticeable skill. Helena's life was marked by a severe hip injury following a childhood fall down stairs. Because of this, the girl received a home education - she did not go to a regular school, but she had a lot of time to draw, and she was accepted into an art school at an unusually early age. (Unfortunately, the hip injury reminded of itself with a limp for the rest of his life). After studying in Finland, including at the private academy of Adolf von Becker, Schjerfbeck received a scholarship and left for where she studied at the Colarossi Academy. In 1881 and 1883-84. she also worked in the colonies of artists in Brittany (painting " Boy feeding his little sister(1881), written in this region of France, is now even considered the beginning of Finnish modernism). In Brittany, she met an unknown English artist and married him, but in 1885 the fiancé broke off the engagement (his family believed that Helena's hip problems were related to tuberculosis, from which her father died). Helena Schjerfbeck never married.

In the 1890s, Schjerfbeck taught at the School of the Art Society, from which she herself had once graduated. In 1902, due to health problems, she left teaching and moved with her mother to a remote province in Hyvinkää. Needing silence, the artist led a reclusive life, but continued to participate in exhibitions. The "discovery" of Schjerfbeck for the public took place in 1917: the first solo exhibition of the artist was held in the art salon of Ëst Stenman in Helsinki, which was a great success with viewers and critics and violated her secluded existence. The next major exhibition was held in Stockholm in 1937 to rave reviews, followed by a series of similar exhibitions throughout Sweden. In 1935, when her mother died, Helena moved to live in Tammisaari, and spent her last years in Sweden, in a sanatorium in Saltsjöbaden. In Finland, the attitude towards Schjerfbeck's work was controversial for a long time (her talent was recognized only in the second half of the 20th century), while in Sweden her art was received quite early with great enthusiasm. But Schjerfbeck's truly wide international recognition came in 2007, when large-scale retrospective exhibitions of her work were held in Paris, Hamburg and The Hague.

Among all the paintings of Helena Schjerfbeck, the world's most famous are numerous self-critical self-portraits, which make it possible to trace both the evolution of her style and the changes in the artist herself, who mercilessly fixed her aging face. Altogether, Schjerfbeck wrote about 40 self-portraits, the first at the age of 16, the last at 83. Six of them are in the Ateneum collection.

But perhaps the most famous painting Helena Schjerfbeck is the canvas convalescent"(1888), often referred to as a gem the Ateneum Museum. Highly appreciated by the public, this painting by the 26-year-old artist was awarded a bronze medal at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889 (where this canvas was exhibited under the title "First Green" ( Premier verdure) - this is how Schjerfbeck herself originally called the picture). The theme of sick children was common in 19th-century art, but Schjerfbeck depicts not just a sick child, but a child who is recovering. She painted this picture in the picturesque coastal town of St. Ives, in Cornwall, in the southwest of England, where the artist went on the advice of her Austrian friend in 1887-1888, and again in 1889-1890.

This work is often called the last example of naturalistic light painting in the work of Schjerfbeck (later she moved to stylized modernism and almost abstract expressionism with an ascetic palette). Here the artist skillfully works with light, drawing the viewer's eye to the face of a recovering girl with disheveled hair and feverishly ruddy cheeks, who holds a mug with a fragile flowering twig in her hands - a symbol of spring and new life. A smile plays on the child's lips, expressing hope for recovery. This exciting picture catches the viewer, makes him feel empathy. The picture, in a sense, can be called a self-portrait of the artist, who at that time was just trying to recover from the breakup of her engagement. It is also possible that in this picture Schjerfbeck depicted herself as a child, telling us about what she herself felt, often being bedridden and rejoicing at the first signs of spring.

Please note that currently Helena Schjerfbeck's most famous works are "on tour" in Sweden. One exhibition is held in Stockholm and will last until the end of February 2013, the other - in Gothenburg (until August 2013).

One more Finnish artist, whose work can be found in the Ateneum Museum, is Trouble Shernschanz (Sternshantz)(Beda Stjernschantz) (1867–1910). By the way, a large-scale exhibition of works by this artist is scheduled for 2014 at the museum. Beda Shernschanz was an important representative of the generation Finnish symbolist artists at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. She was born into an aristocratic family in the city of Porvoo. In 1886, her father died, and the family faced financial difficulties. Unlike other female artists, Shernschantz had to work to make a living. In 1891, at the same time as another well-known Finnish artist, Ellen Tesleff, she came to Paris, and the girls enrolled together at the Colarossi Academy. Bede's mentor was Magnus Enckell, under whose influence she absorbed the ideas of symbolism. Representatives of this trend were convinced that art should not slavishly copy nature, but should be purified for the sake of beauty, the expression of subtle feelings and experiences. Due to lack of money, Shernschanz lived in Paris for only one year. Returning to Finland, she could not find a place for herself and in 1895 went to the Estonian island of Vormsi, where there was an old Swedish settlement that retained its language, customs, and clothes. There the artist painted the picture Everywhere we are called by a voice» (1895). The title of the painting is a quote from the then-famous "Songs of Finland" ( Suomen laulu), the words to which were written by the poet Emil Kwanten. As you can see, not only Karelia was the place where Finnish artists went in search of pristine nature and people.

On this poetic canvas, the artist depicted a group of Swedish children who managed to preserve their national traditions and language in an alien environment. Because of this, some critics saw a patriotic meaning in the picture, especially since the kantele instrument, played by one of the girls, occupies an important place in the composition. Another girl sings, and these sounds fill the ascetic landscape with windmills. Because of the completely static, frozen poses and the emptiness of the surrounding landscape, the viewer, as it were, also begins to listen to the music sounding in the canvas. It seems that even the wind has died down, neither the leaves nor the windmills are moving, as if we are in an enchanted kingdom, a place that has fallen out of time. If we proceed from the symbolist interpretation of the picture, then the pious and concentrated children's faces against the backdrop of this mystical landscape are a way to convey the state of innocence. In addition, as in many other works of the Symbolists, a special role is assigned to music, the most ethereal and most noble of the arts.

In 1897-98. Beda Shernschanz, having received a grant from the Finnish government, went to travel around Italy, but her creative activity after this period came to naught. Although the artist's legacy is small, it attracts the interest of researchers, and a number of conferences and publications are expected in the future, which will make it possible to learn more about the significance of her work in the international context of the turn of the century.

Another interesting Finnish artist of the same period is Elin Danielson-Gambogi (Elin Danielson-Gambogi) (1861-1919). Elin Danielson-Gambogi belonged to the first generation of Finnish women artists who received professional education. She worked mainly in the genre of a realistic portrait, and both in life and in her work she differed from her colleagues in her emancipation and bohemian lifestyle. She criticized the position of women in society, wore trousers and smoked, led an anti-conformist life and associated with many artists, including the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland (they had an affair in 1895). Her paintings of women in everyday situations were considered vulgar and indecent by many critics.

« self-portrait» Elin Danielson-Gambogi (1900) was painted at a time when the artist was beginning to gain recognition in Europe. The artist is depicted in her studio, with a brush and palette in hand, and light streams through the curtain in front of the window, creating a halo around her head. The large format of the canvas, the pose and look of the artist - all this expresses an independent and self-confident nature. For this painting, Danielson-Gambogi was awarded a silver medal in Florence in 1900.

Elin Danielson-Gamboji was born in a village near the town of Pori. In 1871, their family farm went bankrupt and her father committed suicide a year later. Despite this, the mother managed to find funds so that at the age of 15 Elin moved to and began to study painting. The girl grew up in a free atmosphere, outside of strict social taboos. In 1883, Danielson-Gambogi left for, where she continued her education at the Colarossi Academy, and in the summer she studied painting in Brittany. Then the artist returned to Finland, where she communicated with other painters and taught at art schools, and in 1895 received a scholarship and went to Florence. A year later, she moved to the village of Antignano and married the Italian painter Raffaello Gamboggi. The couple has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout Europe; their work was shown at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris and the 1899 Venice Biennale. But at the beginning of the 20th century, family troubles and financial difficulties, betrayals and illness of her husband began. Elin Danielson-Gambogi died of pneumonia and was buried in Livorno.

Finally, among Finnish female artists cannot be called Ellen Thesleff (Ellen Thesleff) (1869-1954). Few Finnish authors have received such early recognition. Already in 1891, the young Thesleff took part in the exhibition of the Art Society of Finland with her wonderful work " Echo» ( Kaiku) (1891) to critical acclaim. At that time, she had just graduated from the private academy of Gunnar Berndtson ( GunnarBerndtson) and was going on her first trip to, where the girl entered the Colarossi Academy with her friend Beda Shernschanz. In Paris, she became acquainted with symbolism, but from the very beginning she chose her own, independent path in art. During this period, she began to create paintings in ascetic colors.

The most important source of inspiration for Ellena Tesleff was Italian art. Already in 1894, she went to the homeland of the early Renaissance, to Florence. Here the artist saw many beautiful works of religious painting, including works by Botticelli, whose work she admired back in the Louvre. Thesleff also copied monastery frescoes. The influence of spiritual Italian painting strengthened her craving for poetic, sublime art, and in subsequent years, color asceticism in her work received maximum expression. The typical motifs of her works are strict, dark-colored landscapes and human figures, ghostly and melancholy.

An example of the works of this period is the modest in size " self-portrait» (1894-95) Ellen Tesleff, drawn in pencil. This self-portrait, created in Florence, was the result of two years of preparatory work. The soulful face that emerges from the darkness tells us a lot about the artist and her ideals at the time. In line with the philosophy of symbolism, she asked the fundamental questions of being and studied human feelings. In this self-portrait one can see the modern incarnation of the art of Leonardo da Vinci with his questions and mysteries of life. At the same time, the picture is very personal: it reflects Thesleff's grief over the death of her beloved father, which happened two years earlier.

Thesleff grew up in a musical family and from childhood was fond of singing and playing music with her sisters. One of the most frequent motifs in her work was the echo or scream - the most primitive form of music. She also often depicted playing the violin - one of the most sublime and complex musical instruments. For example, a model for the painting " violin playing” (“Violinist”) (1896) was performed by the artist’s sister, Tira Elizaveta, who often posed for her in the 1890s.

The composition is sustained in warm translucent, mother-of-pearl-opal tones. The violinist turned away from the viewer, concentrating on the game. The theme of music, revered as the most spiritual, divine art, was one of the most common in symbolism, but artists rarely depicted female musicians.

Like her friend Magnus Enkkel, at an early stage of her work, Ellen Thesleff preferred color asceticism. But then her style changed. Under the influence of Kandinsky and his Munich circle, the artist became the first Fauvist in Finland, and in 1912 she was invited to take part in the exhibition of the Finnish Association September who stood up for bright pure colors.

However, her participation did not go beyond the scope of the exhibition: Tesleff did not join any groups, considering loneliness to be a normal state of a strong personality. Moving away from the old gray-brown range, at a more mature age, Thesleff began to create colorful and layered color fantasies. She repeatedly visited Tuscany with her sister and mother, where she painted sunny Italian landscapes.

Tesleff never married, but she took her place as a creative person. The artist lived a long life and received recognition.

Foreign art in the Ateneum

The collection of foreign art of the Ateneum Museum contains over 650 paintings, sculptures and drawings created by such famous masters as Cezanne, Wag Gogh, Chagall, Modigliani, Munch, Repin, Rodin, Zorn.

From a foreign collection the Ateneum Museum single out Van Gogh's "Street in Auvers-sur-Oise"(1890). Vincent van Gogh painted this painting shortly before his death, in the tiny town of Auvers-sur-Oise ( Auvers-sur-Oise), located in the valley of a tributary of the Seine, about 30 km northwest of. Van Gogh, suffering from bouts of mental illness, went to Auvers-sur-Oise on the advice of his brother Theo for treatment by Dr. Paul Gachet. In Auvers-sur-Oise there was a clinic of this doctor - a man who is not indifferent to art, familiar with many French artists and who also became a friend of Van Gogh.

The town of Auvers-sur-Oise eventually became the place of death of the artist, who felt like a burden on his brother and his family. Van Gogh shot himself and then bled to death. The artist lived in Auvers-sur-Oise for the last 70 days of his life, completing 74 paintings in this short period, one of which is now in the main art museum in Helsinki. It is possible that the painting was left unfinished (the primer is visible in some places). The brightness of the sky sets off the calmer green tone of the earth and the reddish tint of the tiled roofs. It seems that the whole scene is in spiritual motion, permeated with restless energy.

A very interesting story is how the painting "Street in Auvers-sur-Oise" got into Ateneum museum. For some time after the death of Van Gogh, it belonged to the artist's brother, Theo, and then to his widow, from whom Julien Leclerc bought the canvas ( Julien Leclercq) is a French poet and art critic. It is known that in 1900 Leclerc acquired at least 11 Van Gogh paintings from Theo's widow. A year later, he organized Van Gogh's first retrospective exhibition, but soon died unexpectedly. Leclerc's wife was pianist Fanny Flodin ( FannyFlodin), sister of the Finnish artist and sculptor Hilda Flodin ( Hilda Flodin). In 1903, Fanny sold a Van Gogh painting to representatives of the collector Fridtjof Antell, who was repeatedly mentioned above, for 2,500 marks (about 9,500 euros in today's money). This canvas has become first painting of Wag Gogh Old Church

Albert Gustav Aristide Edelfelt (1854–1905)

Albert Edelfelt was born in 1854 in Finland near Porvo. His father was an architect. From his father, he adopted a love of music and drawing. However, the mother was the closest person to the future artist. Albert Edelfelt was in many ways the creation of his ambitious mother.

Portrait of the artist's mother. 1883

The boy received his first painting lessons at the school of the Finnish Art Society in Helsinki. Deciding to devote himself to painting, he enters the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, but a year later he moves to Paris, where he takes lessons from L. Jerome.

Realist representative. Experienced the influence of impressionism. The author of historical canvases, paintings from folk life, landscapes, portraits, marked by the freedom and expressiveness of the artistic form, the subtle transmission of the light-air environment, the festive brightness of color.

Already at the age of twenty-three, Edelfelt became the most prominent figure in Finnish painting and led the struggle of the younger generation of artists for realism and work from nature. Albert originally intended to become a history painter. Patriotic paintings were expected from him. The most famous painting of this plan was Duke Karl's Desecration of the Remains of C. Fleming (1878). This story highlights the struggle for power in Finland that unfolded at the end of the 16th century.

Desecration of Duke Charles over the remains of K. Fleming. 1878

A wonderful play of colors and freshness of youth attracts the painting "Queen Blanca with a child" (1877).

But gradually the living life of his native land attracts him more and more. The next works of the painter were created already in the style of a realistic depiction of folk life. At home, Albert traveled with fishermen to the open sea more than once, and then in the studio in Heiko he specially set up a sawn fishing boat for precise execution of details. The success of the painting "The Funeral of a Child" (1879), as well as the real success of the painting "At the Sea" (1883), made Edelfelt a recognized master in his homeland.

Funeral of a child. 1879

On the sea. 1883

A. Edelfelt's reputation as a national artist was most weightily confirmed by his paintings from the life of ordinary people in Finland: "Boys by the Water" (1884), "Girl with a Rake" (1886), "Women from Ruoholahti" (1887).

Russian critic V.V. Stasov wrote: "The best of all their Finns, of course, is Edelfelt, and he has the most remarkable picture of Laundress (1889), full of healthy, fresh realism and life." This picture remained in Russia, and since 1930 it has been in the Hermitage.

Washerwomen. 1889

The attention of the audience is always attracted by the truly "Parisian spirit" painting "In the Luxembourg Gardens" (1887). In the plein air works of these years, A. Edelfelt pays much attention to the problems of light and colors.

In the Luxembourg Gardens. 1887

Having made a trip around Europe, Edelfelt stopped for a long time in St. Petersburg. He first came to St. Petersburg in 1881. Russian artists and society greeted A. Edelfelt with enthusiasm. In 1881, the young Finnish painter presented his works to the court of the St. Petersburg Academy. He was a great success: he was awarded the title of academician and organized a solo exhibition in Tsarskoye Selo. Edelfelt was introduced to the royal family. At the request of Tsar Alexander III, he made a copy of the painting "On the Sea", and made a number of commissioned works. In the same period, the artist creates several genre portraits, of which the most popular was the portrait of the artist's sister Berta with a dog in a dacha in Heiko.

Good friends. 1881

Under the title "Good Friends" (1881), copies of this painting are kept in the Ateneum and in Gothenburg. The painting "In the Nursery" (1885), close in character, was bought by Alexander III for the Gatchina Palace. The Athenium also exhibits a portrait of Sophie Manzey created in these years.

Portrait of Sophie Manzey.

Thanks to the popularity and authority of A. Edelfelt, the art of Finland gained recognition in Russia. In St. Petersburg, Edelfelt met the young figures of the new Russian art, Sergei Diaghilev and Alexander Benois: "We literally hung on Edelfelt, in our eyes his head was surrounded by a halo of Parisian recognition," Benois wrote later. The proximity of Finnish and Russian artists was marked by several joint exhibitions. The largest of them was in 1898 in the museum at the school of Baron Stieglitz. The works of young artists at that time were presented there: Serov, Repin, Vrubel - from Russian; and M. Enkel, Gallen-Kallela, Yarnefeld - from the Finnish side. The exhibition aroused great interest in Finnish culture and Finland itself among the Russian public.

But the main form of creativity for A. Edelfelt in his mature years was portrait painting. Edelfelt worked extensively and successfully in the portrait genre. Pabout the order of the government of France, he wroteportrait by Louis Pasteur (1885). In the 1880s and 1890s, Edelfelt worked extensively on orders from the Russian royal court. But in addition to official portraits, he created beautiful creations: "Portrait of a Mother", "Storyteller Larin Paraske", portraits of the great Finnish actresses Aine Akte and Ida Aalberg.

Landscape occupies relatively little space in Edelfelt's work. However, in the Hermitage there are his works: "View of Porvo", watercolor "View of the lake in Kaukola", etching "Pine tree in the snow". The Hermitage also has a number of drawings and illustrations by the remarkable Finnish master.

A sketch of Edelfelt's work would be incomplete without mentioning his last work: In 1900-1904, the artist was busy creating a monumental panel in the assembly hall of the University of Helsinki on the theme: "Grand opening of the university in Turku in 1640." The composition was made in the form of a parade procession in costumes of the 17th century.

Grand opening of the university in Turku in 1640 1902 (Clickable)

Albert Edelfelt died suddenly at a dacha near Porvo in August 1905. It was a blow to Finnish art. But his paintings are also interesting and understandable to us, as they were close to his contemporaries.

Vladimir Losev

Young woman in the boudoir. 1879

On the Champs Elysees. 1886

Portrait of the artist's sister Berta Edelfelt. 1884

Portrait of the artist's mother. 1902

Woman under an umbrella. 1886

Children of Tsar Alexander III

Parisian model. 1885

Mary Magdalene. 1891

Woe. 1894

Finnish fishermen. 1898

Christ and Mary Magdalene. 1890

Portrait of Louis Pasteur. 1885

Boys playing on the beach. 1884

Small boat. 1884

Woman in a boat. 1886

Neighbors sitting by the church after Mass. 1887

Karelian women. 1887

Girl knitting a sock. 1886

Strawberry.

Thoughtful woman at the church. 1893

Solveig

Worship in the Uusimaa archipelago.

Return from christening.

Portrait of a young woman. 1891

Reading Parisian. 1880

Portrait of Madame Valerie Rado. 1888

Culture and art are the heritage and property 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 historians and simply connoisseurs of creativity. Art is very developed in Finland, in particular painting. Many art galleries, museums and exhibitions will delight even the most sophisticated connoisseurs of fine art.

Artists from the Suomi country, who received a European education in the nineteenth century, became the main and driven factor that gave impetus to the development of fine arts in Finland. Before starting to get acquainted with the 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, focused society's attention on the social policy of the Finnish state in relation to commoners. When Robert was 16 years old, 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 contributed to the fact that he went to study in Italy and France, and then to Holland. In these countries, the master of the brush spent seven whole years from 1837 to 1844.

Returning back to the Suomi country, Robert Wilhelm settled in the city of Turku, where he began to paint the local cathedral with his wall frescoes and drawings. After that, he founded a drawing school in the city, which he headed until 1873. He very clearly outlined the abyss that was between the nobility and the peasants. The paintings of the painter shocked everyone with their unique and not invented 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 did his best 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 became involved in heraldry and flag design. 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.

Oscar Kleineh

The most famous Finnish marine landscape painter was born in September 1846 in the capital of Finland. The German roots of Oscar "came to the rescue", which allowed him to study in Germany, namely in Düsseldorf. Later, Kleinech continued his studies in St. Petersburg and Karlsruhe. The greatest popularity of the marine painter was brought by paintings depicting sea still lifes and landscapes, one author's work is even exhibited in the St. Petersburg Hermitage. The artist died in his native city of Helsinki in 1919.