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.
The majestic building of the Academy of Arts adorns the Neva embankment between the 3rd and 4th lines of Vasilyevsky Island. It represents one of the best monuments of classical architecture.
The authors of the project are A.F. Kokorinov and J.B. Delamot. The imperial “academy of the three most noble arts” (“Kolmen paataiteen akatemia”) - painting, sculpture and architecture - was founded in 1757 during the era of Queen Elizabeth. Over the two and a half centuries of its activity, the Academy has trained many generations of masters of fine art: painters, sculptors, architects. Among them are great artists, whose works are presented in museums in St. Petersburg, Moscow and many European capitals.
Architects and sculptors - graduates of the Academy built and decorated many cities in Russia and abroad. They built a lot in St. Petersburg. Their works are also in Finland, because for many years the Academy of Arts was a place of active communication between Russian and Finnish art. The best Finnish artists were awarded the title of “Academicians of Fine Arts”. Among them were V. Runeberg, KG Nyström. But the first, of course, should be named, AZdelfelt.
Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt, 1854-1905
The greatest master of historical painting, portraiture, and everyday life. The first Finnish artist to be known abroad. Albert "was born near Porvoo in the family of an architect. He studied at the University of Helsinki for two years before deciding to devote himself to painting. He received his artistic education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and then in Paris at the School of Fine Arts. In 1877-80, Edelfelt creates a number of paintings on historical subjects. But then the artist turns to genre subjects from nature, in which his love for his native land and interest in the life of ordinary people are clearly demonstrated. These are the paintings: “At the Sea”, “Boys by the Water”, “Women from Ruokolahti”. ", "Washerwomen", "Fishermen from the Distant Islands".
In 1881, A. Edelfelt lived and worked in St. Petersburg for a long time, communicating with Russian artists. In 1881, a young Finnish artist presented his works to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. He had great success: he was elected a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. A personal exhibition was organized for him in Tsarskoye Selo. One of the paintings was bought by the imperial family. The author received new orders from the royal family, which brought him fame.
During his stay in Tsarskoe Selo, the artist was introduced to Tsarevich Alexander, and made a number of works commissioned by him for the Gatchina Palace, in particular, a copy of the painting “On the Sea,” which, among his other works, is kept in the Hermitage. Edelfelt's everyday sketches: “Good Friends” and “In the Nursery” were also acquired by Alexander III. These paintings had repetitions that are in foreign museums.
Edelfelt's merit was the organization of a number of joint exhibitions in Russia, thanks to which the Russian public became acquainted with the work of many Finnish artists.
Edelfelt's main activity can be called portrait painting. He worked a lot on orders, in particular from the royal court, creating official portraits. But the best in his portrait work are: “Portrait of the Artist’s Mother” (1883), “Louis Pasteur” (1885), “Portrait of Larin Paraske” (1893), “Portrait of Aino Akte” (1901).
Official presentations and long-term friendly contacts.
The first Finnish artist to have an exhibition at the Imperial Academy of Arts at the end of the nineteenth century was the painter Albert Edelfelt. After a trip to Western Europe in 1881, the young Finnish artist presented his works to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. He was a great success - he was awarded the title of academician. A personal exhibition was organized for him in Tsarskoe Selo. One of the paintings was bought by the imperial family.
The author received new orders from the royal family, which brought him fame. The artist’s closeness to the imperial family helped the popularity of Finnish painting in Russia. Thanks to the popularity and authority of A. Edelfelt in Russia, Finnish art was reflected in joint Finnish-Russian art exhibitions in St. Petersburg and Moscow, starting with the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition of 1882.
Finnish artists in the Hermitage
The Hermitage presents seven paintings by Aedelfelt and a number of drawings. In addition to the mentioned painting “On the Sea”, which in its first version is in the Gothenburg Museum, it should be noted the everyday painting composition “Good Friends” (1881), repetitions of which are in Gothenburg and Helsinki. The painting “In the Nursery” (1885), also purchased by Alexander III for the Gatchina Palace, is also close in character. One of Edelfelt’s most democratic works is the painting “The Laundresses” (1898, Hermitage), which received approval from St. Petersburg critics.
The genre of portraiture, in which Aedelfelt was particularly strong, is represented in the Hermitage by a portrait of the wife of the Moscow Art Theater actor M.V. Dyakovskaya-Gey-rot. The Hermitage collection also contains examples of the Finnish artist’s landscape mastery. This is the canvas “View of Porvoo” (1898) and the etching “Pine in the Snow”. It should be mentioned that Aedelfelt’s works are also kept in the Kiev Museum - the painting “Fishermen from the Distant Islands” and in the Moscow Museum. A.S. Pushkin: “Portrait of Varvara Myatleva.”
In addition, the Hermitage has paintings by Juho Risanen, Eero Nelimark and Henry Erikson.
Finnish artists at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts
Architect K. G. Nyström (1856-1917) made a great contribution to the architectural appearance of the capital of Finland. Suffice it to mention the luxurious buildings of the House of Estates and the State Archive, which decorate the surroundings of Senate Square. You can remember the former customs house and warehouse in Katajanokka, the first covered market at Kauppa-tori. But few people know that the architect KG. Nyström also worked in St. Petersburg. According to his design, the building of the surgical clinic of the Medical Institute on the Petrograd side was built.
Nyström was a professor at the Academy of Arts, and was awarded the title of academician of architecture.
The artist J. Rissanen is called one of the most original, strong and deeply national talents in Finnish painting of the last century. He painted portraits and genre paintings from folk life. After studying at the drawing school in Helsinki, he was sent to study at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, where he took a course under the direction of I.E. Repin in 1897-98. Studying in St. Petersburg, communicating with Russian artists and the whole atmosphere of creative life in St. Petersburg, seething with passions, raised the artist’s creativity to new heights. After this, he worked fruitfully for many years in Finland and abroad. It is worth telling more about his studies and life in St. Petersburg.
Rissanen Juho (Julio Rissanen, 1873-1950)
Juho Rissanen was born in the vicinity of Kuopio in the family of a farm laborer. He had a hard time as a child, at times he even had to beg when his drunkard father died (frozen to death). In 1896, Juho Rissanen entered the central art and industrial drawing school of the Finnish Art Society in Helsinki, then in Turku.
As a child, Rudolf Koivu attended the St. Petersburg parish church school, where he mastered Finnish and Russian literacy. Since childhood he loved to draw and attracted the attention of teachers in St. Petersburg. He was sent to study, but he had to earn his bread. And only in 1907 R. Koivu managed to continue his studies in painting at the drawing school of the Finnish art lovers society.
There he was a student of Huto Simberg, author of the famous "Wounded Angel". H. Simberg inherited from his teacher Gallen-Kallela a belief in fantasy and the mystical power of nature. Rudolf Koivu then studied in Paris in 1914, and in Italy in 1924. Returning to Finland, he joined the “November Group” of the circle of artists, but remained faithful to the realistic style and painted his landscapes in a restrained, calm style of impressionism. Much more important than a painter, Koivu was a draftsman and illustrator.
Showing an unusually lively and vivid imagination, he illustrated dozens of fairy-tale books, including Finnish Topelius’s “Reading to Children,” German “Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm,” Arabic tales “The Thousand and One Nights of Scheheraz,” etc. Koivu enjoyed illustrating Christmas newspapers, Finnish calendars and other publications, developing himself, clearly receiving influence primarily from Russian illustrators, a rare effective, brightly decorated style. His sense of humor is manifested in addition to fairy-tale pictures and drawings, also in his caricatures, which were successful among his contemporaries. A collection (collection) of his paintings and drawings was published, unfortunately, after his death in 1947.
Shulman Carl Allan (Carl Allan Schulman, 1863-1937)
Architect, a man of bright talents and destiny. Karl Allan received an architectural education in Finland, and even during his studies he was imbued with the innovative ideas of young Finnish modernists: E. Saarinen, G. Giselius, A. Lindren. He was attracted to the ideas of modernity. Having not received orders at home, the young architect K.A. Shulman works abroad: in Argentina, Germany, Holland, Sweden.
Upon returning to his homeland, he got the opportunity to build the Hallila resort on the Karelian Isthmus. The success of this construction attracted attention to him in St. Petersburg. In 1901 there was, opposite the Church of the Icon of the Vladimir Mother of God. 88 architects took part in the competition. As a result, the owner of the house, Baron von Besser, entrusted the construction to Shulman. The six-story building in Art Nouveau style decorated the square with its unique flavor. The lower floors are opened with large openings of display windows.
And along the upper floors there is an unusual gallery, above the center of which rises a turret resembling a hero’s helmet. The stone details of the building are made from Finnish potted stone. They provide a characteristic Art Nouveau pattern of ornamentation depicting plants and animals. Above the entrance is the coat of arms of the owner - Baron von Besser. At the beginning of the 20th century, this house housed the reception room of the imperial chancellery, as well as the “House of Diligence for Women.” Now the house on Vladimirskaya is being reconstructed. It will be part of the Vladimirsky Passage shopping complex.
The house on Vladimirskaya is the only building in St. Petersburg by one of the founders of the Finnish school of northern modernism, which later became widespread in the northern capital.
Then it was presented and developed by St. Petersburg architects: F. Lidval, N.V. Vasiliev, A. F. Bubyr. As for K. Shulman, he worked for many years as a provincial architect in the city of Vyborg, where he created 10 multi-storey buildings in the northern modern style. In addition, K.A. Shulman was a prominent figure in the Union of Architects of Finland and acted as a professional musician and conductor. Choir groups under his leadership performed with success in St. Petersburg, Finland and abroad.
Gripenberg Odert Sebastian (Odert Sebastian Gripenberg, 1850-1939)
Gripenberg Odert Sebastian, architect; Born in Kurkijoki. The son of rich and noble parents, Odert studied at the cadet school in Hamina, and then at the St. Petersburg Military Engineering Academy. There he received military construction training, but left the army in 1875. He decided to become a professional architect. During this period, new construction techniques arose in St. Petersburg architecture. Eclecticism - the use of techniques from previous eras: Renaissance, Gothic, Baroque - was combined with the search for new decorative details for processing the facades of multi-storey buildings. These are the famous buildings of A.K.Serebryakov, P.Yu.Syuzor, A.E.Belogrud.
In 1878, Gripenberg defended his diploma in architecture at the Polytechnic School, after which he studied in Vienna. In 1879-87. he worked as an architect in Helsinki. His first works reflect a craving for the Renaissance, and the clear influence of his teacher Shes-three. In the future, there is a desire for a clearly expressed strong breakdown and division of the volumes of the building. These are works such as the building of the Society of Finnish Writers, the First Business Center, then the old Helsingin Sanomat building, the building of the Turku Savings Bank.
In 1887, he was appointed chief architect of the Department of Public (Civil) Construction, from where in 1904 he moved to the Senate as director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Gripenberg was the head of the board of the Finnish Theater House joint-stock company and the executive director during the creation of the National Theater building, and was also the chairman of the board of directors of the Pohjola insurance company. O.S. Gripenberg was the first chairman of the Finnish club of architects in 1892-1901, as well as one of the founders of the Finnish-language society of technicians.
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 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.
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