Friday Bliss #96 - Visual Art Day

Today we celebrate in Finland The Visual Art Day. It is the birthday of our beloved painter Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946). I love her art and have seen her paintings in many museums & exhibitions and read her biography. She is famous of her brutal series of self portraits - HERE my post from the exhibition On my Travels I Found Myself at Ateneum Art Museum last winter.

I have this wonderful book with poems of Edith Södergran (1892-1923), illustrated with Schjerfbeck’s art. Södergran was Swedish-speaking, is highly praised, but died tragically young of tuberculosis. Poem Hunter has on their site  more translated poems. She loved cats. On the photo with Totti.
HIER zwei Gedichte von Södergran auf deutsch.

THE STARS

When night comes

I stand on the steps and listen,

stars swarm in the yard

and I stand in the dark.

Listen, a star fell with a clang!

Don’t go out in the grass with bare feet;

my yard is full of shards.

THE LAND THAT IS NOT

I long for the land that is not,

For all that is, I am weary of wanting.

The moon speaks to me in silvern runes

About the land that is not.

The land where all our wishes become wondrously fulfilled,

The land where all our fetters fall,

The land where we cool our bleeding forehead

In the dew of the moon.

My life was a burning illusion,

But one thing I have found and one thing I have really won - 

The road to the land that is not.
***

Jag längtar till landet som icke är,

ty allting som är, är jag trött att begära.

Månen berättar mig i silverne runor

om landet som icke är.

Landet, där all vår önskan blir underbart upp-

fylld,

landet, där alla våra kedjor falla,

landet, där vi svalka vår sargade panna

i månens dagg.

Mitt liv var en het villa.

Men ett har jag funnit och ett har jag verkligen

vunnit –

vägen till landet som icke är.

Trees in Wind 1918, private collection / Ateneum’s exhibition Silent Beauty.

 See more paintings by Helene Schjerfbeck at Wikiart.

❤︎❤︎❤︎

Sun, Joy & Happiness to your weekend!

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Helene Schjerfbeck at Ateneum

Mother and Child, 1887

Silence, 1902

Through my travels I found myself describes how a talented art student grew into one of the most influential artists in our history. An exhibition of works by Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946) was shown at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in the autumn of 2019. The exhibition was the first comprehensive overview of Schjerfbeck’s work in the UK. The exhibition that Finns get to see at the Ateneum will be more than twice the size of the one staged in London.  The Guardian called her 'Finland’s Munch’ and  said that 'Her self-portraits put her in the company of Goya, Rembrandt, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud’.

Schjerfbeck is my favourite female Finnish painter. She was so, so talented and already at the age of eleven permitted to study at Finnish Art Society’s drawing school in Helsinki together with adult art students. At the age of 18 she traveled to Paris for the first time and in later years again to Paris, Brittany, St. Ives & Fiesole. Her paintings in the early years of her carer were naturalistic, but then she developed a unique style: very modern and with subdued color palette. Her series of self portraits ar brilliant through the years.

Green Stilleben, 1930

I have to say that i was in heaven. Schjerbeck’s art pleads me deeply and I shall pay a return visit later in January. My photos are of course only a pale picture how fabulous the paintings were live. But I wanted to show you one of my favourites.

Dancing Shoes, 1882

Convalescent, 1888

Madonna de la Charité, 1943

We Wish You a Merry♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Christmas♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

We Wish You a Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♥ ♥ ♥

We Wish You A Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ And a Happy New Year!!!

The history of the English Wassail actually dates back much farther 
than most written English carols, and can be traced to the time of the Norman conquests 
of 1066 A.D. In the Middle Ages, wassailing was a means for the feudal peasants 
who lived on the land of their lord to be invited to the lord's manor 
and to dine and drink together and enjoy the bounty of his table. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

#all seasons   #der natur donnerstag   #digitalart dienstag   #foto-tunes   #gartenglück    

#image-in-ing   #makrotex   #mosaic monday   #my corner of the world   

#saturday’s critters   # t in die neue woche   #the weekend roundup   #tuesday’s treasures

#uudet värikollaasit   #wandering camera   #willy-nilly   #watw 

Christmas at Villa Gyllenberg

Last week I made an Advent trip to Villa Gyllenberg. 

It is a fantastic art & home museum in Kuusisaari, Helsinki. Mr. Gyllenberg (1891-1977) 

was a wealthy banker and invested in medicine research and art. 

Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946) has been given a predominant place in the collection. 

Foreign art – old masters – were represented by individual pieces from the 1500s and 1700s. 

The museum was beautifully decorated for Christmas. There were Christmas sweets & nuts 

on display and the dinner table was set in the saloon. It was very festive as Mr. Gyllenberg

celebrated his birthday on Christmas Eve.

Albert Edelfelt

Through my travels I found myself at Ateneum is an exhibition of Helene Schjerfbeck.
I’ll tell my impressions about it later - it was fantastic! Not all Gyllenberg’s Schjerfbecks 
were on loan at Ateneum. This wonderful Jewish festival from 1883 was at ’home’ 
as well as many Schjerfbeck's pastel works.

Yellow roses by Shjerfbeck, about 1888, purchased for € 260,000 in 2019.

La Coiffure Bleu d’après Guys, 1940. Adquisition to Gyllenberg in 2018.

Schjerfbeck painted many versions of this Girl at Gate, 1897-1902.

There seems to be many versions also of this Madonna d’après Greco.

Besides Tizian, of course, my attention was focused on Akseli Gallen Kallela's work
as well Kari Juva's (1939-2014) fine small sculptures.

Ad Astra by Akseli Gallen Kallela

Wäinö Aaltonen's massive Aleksis Kivi s head was also impressive.

Eero Järnefelt: Flora-celebration

We Wish You a Merry♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Christmas♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

We Wish You a Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♥ ♥ ♥

We Wish You A Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ And a Happy New Year!!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

#all seasons   #der natur donnerstag   #digitalart dienstag   #foto-tunes   #gartenglück    

#image-in-ing   #makrotex   #mosaic monday   #my corner of the world   

#saturday’s critters   # t in die neue woche   #the weekend roundup   #tuesday’s treasures
#uudet värikollaasit   #wandering camera   #willy-nilly   #watw 

Sisterhood from 100 Years ago

Here it is - A network of female artists from 100 years ago:

Helene Schjerfbeck 1862-1946, Ada Thilén 1852-1933, 

Helena Westermarck 1857-1933 and Maria Wiik 1853-1928

Postaus suomeksi täällä.

My May art post is based on a book I just read - Sisterhood of Artists. This was third book that I have read this year about Finnish female artists by professor Riitta Konttinen. All have been enchanting. This book deals with the lives, art and  life-long friendship between these four exceptional and talented female artists.

I
Ada Thilén: Girl reading 1896. Turku art museum.

A new way to paint, the colors are dim, the color scheme limited

and the influence of old Italian art is evident.

These four female painters got to know each other very young when studying at the art school of Art Association in Helsinki. They went together to study in Paris, made painting trips in Finland and abroad, even shared ateliers. As to art their opinions varied a lot. The other three did not understand at all the reduced and simple style adopted by Helene Schjerfbeck. Helena Westermarck quit painting later, was keen on women's rights and turned to a novelist and art critic. Ada Thilén is the least famous, although she too painted a lot. A certain kind of competition prevailed between Maria Wiik and Helene Schjerfbeck, these two being the most successful and well-known from the group.

II
Helena Westermarck: Women ironing1883. Private collection.

Hard critic: The women are extremely ugly; nihilistic;

the work represents extreme radicalism & extreme left!

A hundred years ago letters were the way to keep in touch and to exchange ideas. It was fascinating to read quotes from the letters these four wrote to each other. Only Helene Schjerfbeck was poor, the three others came from wealthy aristocratic families. But also they met sorrows and inconveniences: Thilén was visually impaired since birth and had a glass eye; Wiik's vision got poor because of glaucoma; Westermarck suffered from tuberculosis but was cured in the end; Schjerfbeck suffered from her hip injury from childhood and poor health the whole life.

III
Maria Wiik: Out to the world 1889. Ateneum.

The situation of two women at different age:

the young one aims out to the world, while grandmother is contemplating.

All four stayed unmarried. This was usually the only way for female artists to be successful, free of family, husband and child caring. Schjerfbeck was a short while engaged to a British painter but the groom broke the engagement being afraid that her hip injury was tuberculotic - which was not the case. These female painters spent summers at St. Ives and Bretagne too, all the time needing a chaperone, for it was not appropriate for young ladies to walk or travel alone.

IV
Helene Schjerfbeck: Boy feeding his little sister 1881. Ateneum.
These Breton children arouse an avalanche of critique
for they were considered to be extremely ugly.
The great artistic merits were buried under this ugliness.

Today it is very difficult to understand why these gorgeous paintings arouse so much controversy at their time. The book Sisterhood of Artists was a marvellous book to read with its many photos. Sorry it is available only in Finnish.

V
Riitta Konttinen, Sisterhood of Artists, published by Siltala 2014

Please, search for more artwork with the ladies' names.

I hope you enjoyed.

Five on Friday
Paint Monthly
Mosaic Monday

My previous posts on
Helene Schjerfbeck / June 2016
Maria Wiik / August 2016

Artist of June - Helene Schjerfbeck

Convalescent 1888

Helene Schjerfbeck (1862 - 1946) is one of the most famous Finnish painters. She started her art studies at the age of 11 and had drawn already years. She had fell down at the age of four and her hip injury limited her movements. She was only 18 when she travelled to France, Italy and England for art studies.

She was a very original painter with her naturalistic, somewhat masculine style. She was already 55 when she had her first own exhibition.  She did not get wider international acknowledgement during her lifetime. In 2007 her fame exploded owing to exhibitions in Hamburg, Paris and the Hague which gathered over 350 000 visitors.

After 2007 the prizes of her paintings went astronomical. Her Dancing shoes from 1882 is through times the most expensive Finnish painting - sold at Sotheby's in 2008. The second place belongs also to Schjerfbeck with a newer version of the same painting. 

Danciong shoes, 1882

She painted over 40 self portraits, half of those at the age of over 80. As years went by, the portraits turned to be very plain and reduced. If you wish, take a peek at Wikipedia for more information. And with Google you'll find more self portraits.

Linking with Barbara's Paint monthly