GALLEN-KALLELA, Akseli

In the story depicted in this set of three panels, or triptych, we see the sage Väinäm�inen wooing a young maiden named Aino. She does not want to marry the sage but rather drowns herself. The first scene of the story is shown on the left, the second on the right and the final scene - in which Väinäm�inen still seeks to capture Aino, who has turned into a water sprite - in the centre. The artist made two versions of this, his first large Kalevala-themed painting. The model for Aino in this work was the artist’s newly-wed wife, Mary. The frame, designed by Gallen-Kallela himself, features quotes from the fourth and fifth poem of the Kalevala that the painting is based on.

In this painting, the artist wanted to create an allegory of Finland - from its landscape and mythology to its folk art and Karelianism.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 9 minutes):

Jean Sibelius: Finlandia op. 26

In the story depicted in this set of three panels, or triptych, we see the sage Väinäm�inen wooing a young maiden named Aino. She does not want to marry the sage but rather drowns herself. The first scene of the story is shown on the left, the second on the right and the final scene - in which Väinäm�inen still seeks to capture Aino, who has turned into a water sprite - in the centre. The artist made two versions of this, his first large Kalevala-themed painting. The model for Aino in this work was the artist’s newly-wed wife, Mary. The frame, designed by Gallen-Kallela himself, features quotes from the fourth and fifth poem of the Kalevala that the painting is based on.

In this painting, the artist wanted to create an allegory of Finland - from its landscape and mythology to its folk art and Karelianism.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 9 minutes):

Jean Sibelius: Finlandia op. 26

This sideboard with the relief “The tree of good and bad knowledge” was designed by Gallen-Kallela for his own use. He represented the biblical theme of the Garden of Eden in a style combining primitivism and symbolism. Note the divine figure in the centre between the two apple trees, above a male hand, and a feminine hand almost meet.

This picture was painted in Paris in 1888. The model is just taking a break from posing, and the portrait has captured her at rest - in an unpretentious yet sensual relaxed position, lightly mocking. The artist has caught her weary smile, the way she is rubbing her hurting feet, the negligent gestures of her hands and arms on the sofa-top blanket, and a black half-mask she is holding in her right hand.

The fanning of emotions by means of a pictorial subject or accompanying lines is Symbolist in origin. Gallen-Kallela, too, infused the mythological and mystical bases of his art with the yearning for a “symbol”, felt by almost all the artists of his generation.

Although a painter, Gallen-Kallela designed a certain number of decorative art models - woodwork, furniture, hangings, rugs, fabrics, fireplace - presented in the Finnish pavilion of the 1900 Paris Exposition. The exhibited objects included Gallen-Kallela’ wall hanging, The Flame, which later became an icon of Scandinavian design. It was produced by the workshop of the Suomen Käsity�n Ystävät (Friends of Finnish Handicrafts), created in Helsinki in 1879 to perpetuate national traditions and rural skills.

The somewhat modified copy in the Mus�e d’Orsay corresponds to a later version, created in 1905-1906.

In the 1920s, he worked on two major projects, the vault frescoes of the National Museum in Helsinki (1927-28) and the illustrations for a deluxe edition of the Kalevala (Suur-Kalevala). The latter project was never completed.

In 1898 Gallen-Kallela studied fresco technique in Italy; for the Finnish pavilion at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, he executed vault frescoes with Kalevala motifs. The photo shows the central hall of the National Museum of Finland with the vault fresco depicting the Forging of Sampo, a scene from the Kalevala. It is originated in the fresco at the pavilion in Paris.

This painting depicts a scene from Kalevala, a Finnish epic poem. Smith Ilmarinen is forging the magical mill called Sampo, a centrepiece in many of Kalevala’s stories.

As early as 1907, the artist had drafted sketches of his studio-to-be in Tarvaspää, Espoo - a hideaway. Construction of Tarvaspää only got to a start in 1911, when the family returned from their African journey. The studio castle was completed in 1913. In its original guise, it had been designed for artistic purposes; it was heated using big hearths in the studio and the gallery. A gallery existed for exhibiting art and throwing parties and social occasions. In the middle tower room, there were items brought from Africa on display.

In 1915, the artist’s family had to leave Tarvaspää and escape the turmoil spread by World War I. They returned in 1926, settled there and the house was renovated for residential life. It was fitted with plumbing and electricity, a modern bathroom and improved heating. The kitchen would replace the etching room.

In 1961, the former home became a museum.

Gallen-Kallela’s house, located on top of a hill near a lake, was designed by the artist in the National Romantic style. The interior of the Gallen-Kallela museum evokes the work of the painter, his friends, his travels. The wall tapestry visible in the photo is entitled “The Flame”, it was presented in Paris in 1900 in the Finnish pavilion of the Universal Exhibition.

In the 1920s, Gallen-Kallela worked on two major projects, the vault frescoes of the National Museum in Helsinki (1927-28) and the illustrations for a deluxe edition of the Kalevala (Suur-Kalevala). The latter project was never completed, but a simpler version with black-and-white vignettes (Koru-Kalevala) was published in Porvoo in 1922.

The Illustrated Kalevala (Koru-Kalevala) was published in 1922 as Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s preliminary work to Suur-Kalevala, the Great Kalevala. The book is illustrated with opening and ending vignettes by Gallen-Kallela. This drawing shows the opening vignette to Poem XII from Koru-Kalevala.

Gallen-Kallela created a series of stylized renderings of the Kalevala and Finnish folk poetry. Joukahainen’s Revenge (1897; Art Museum, Turku), Fratricide (1897) and Kullervo’s Curse (1897-99; both Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki) deal with themes of desperation and violence; despite their simplified surface style (emphasized by the use of tempera), all three contain profound psychological characterizations of their protagonists. The culmination of this series of easel paintings was Lemminkäinen’s Mother (1897; Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki), a Pietà with Finnish components.

This painting depicts a scene from Kalevala, a Finnish epic poem.

After completing Aino Myth, Gallen-Kallela developed a new style for his Kalevala-themed works. The model in this emotionally highly charged picture, with its reductive stylisation and large areas of flat colour, was the artist’s own mother. In the story, warrior and womaniser Lemminkäinen dies because he has tried to kill the swan of Tuonela. His mother rakes the pieces of his son’s body from the river and puts them back together. In this picture, she tries to revive him and receives a glimmer of hope in the form of the rays of sunlight that penetrate the gloom of Tuonela. A bee brings the balm of life from the abode of the gods, and a miracle happens: Lemminkäinen opens his eyes and is once again alive.

Carl Johannes Andreas Adam Dørnberger (1864-1940) was a Norwegian painter. He was also portrayed by Edvard Munch.

In 1890 and 1892, Gallen-Kallela travelled in eastern Finland and Karelia, documenting folk art, vernacular architecture and physiognomic types for future use. Inspired by Karelian buildings, he designed a studio for himself in central Finland (Ruovesi, 1894-95); this is a key work in the architectural development of the Finnish National Romanticism movement. In his Ruovesi studio, Gallen-Kallela produced pioneering woodcuts, stained glass and other examples of the applied arts.