A few words about the famous Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt (1854-1905) and his painting Old ladies at Ruokolahti Church. I chose this painting because of Ruokolahti. It is a beautiful rural community in South Carelia about 275 kms from Helsinki. The wooden church dates back to 1854 and the bell tower to 1752. I lived my childhood and school years in Imatra, very near to Ruokolahti where my aunt lived. I visited my aunt and Ruokolahti all the time in my childhood years.
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| Ruokolahti Church from 1854 |
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| The Bell Tower from 1752 |
Edelfelt painted a lot of historic topics and portraits. He studied in Antwerpen, Paris and St. Petersburg. He had good relations to the Russian Court and painted portraits of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. He was a personal friend of Tsar Alexander III and the Finns' own departement in the Exposition Universelle 1900 in Paris is considered his merit (Finland was under Russia at that time).
He was a womanizer and got married once. His only son died young. He was also a maniatic painter. In his biography there are listed over 1100 paintings and sketches.
Old ladies at Ruokolahti Church
dates back to 1887 and it is considered one of his most important paintings. It is naturalistic and realistic description of humble folk in rural setting. The painting got its inspiration of Elli Jäppinen (1844-1929) who was a skilful massagist and healer. Edelfelt lived in the house of Elli during his visit to Ruokolahti in 1887. She was one of the models portrayed in the painting.
During his trip to Ruokolahti Edelfelt got inspiration that can be seen throughout his production. The painting was displayed in many great art exhibitions worldwide and was celebrated. The painting was exhibited in Helsinki 1887, Paris 1888, Copenhagen 1888, Paris 1889, St. Petersburg 1896, Stockholm 1897, Riga 1902, Berlin 1903, Budapest 1907, Malmö 1914, Stockholm 1916, Moscow-Riga 1934-35, Germany 1935, Milan-Rome 1937...Quite a round! Today the painting is exhibited in Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki. In Ruokolahti there are 2 reproductions.
This link tells more of Edelfelt's paintings
Luxemburg Gardens 1887 and Queen Blanca 1877
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| Luxemburg Gardens 1887 |
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| Queen Blanca 1977 |
Other paintings of Edelfelt:
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| Boys playing at the shore 1888 |
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| Parisienne 1885 |
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| The opera singer Aino Ackté 1901 |
I hope you enjoyed this short review on Albert Edelfelt.
Have a wonderful spring week you all!
Linking with
This is the fourth time they have visited Croatia and Rijeka. And of course visited the opera every time. She is a fan of the Finnish opera singer Waltteri Torikka who performs in Rijeka. Now they saw Eugene Onegin... Waltteri is a baritone, handsome, tall and young - he has great personal charm!
