Koru-Kalevala: opening vignette
by GALLEN-KALLELA, Akseli, India ink on paper, 65 x 100 mm
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.