Akseli Gallen-Kallela | |
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| Born | Axel Waldemar Gallén (1865-04-26)26 April 1865 Pori,Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire |
| Died | 7 March 1931(1931-03-07) (aged 65) |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Romantic nationalism,Realism,Symbolism |
Akseli Gallen-Kallela (bornAxel Waldemar Gallén; 26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of theKalevala, the Finnish nationalepic. His work is considered a very important aspect of the Finnish national identity. Hefinnicized his name from Gallén to Gallen-Kallela in 1907.[1]
Gallen-Kallela was born on 26 April 1865, inPori, to aSwedish-speaking family. His father Peter Gallén worked as police chief and lawyer.[2] Gallen-Kallela was raised inTyrvää.[3] At age 11, he was sent toHelsinki to study at a grammar school, because his father opposed his ambition to become a painter. After his father's death in 1879, Gallen-Kallela attended drawing classes at theFinnish Art Society (1881–1884) and studied privately underAdolf von Becker.[1]
In 1884, he moved toParis, to study at theAcadémie Julian.[4] In Paris he became friends with the Finnish painterAlbert Edelfelt, the Norwegian painterCarl Dørnberger, and the Swedish writerAugust Strindberg.[1] During this period he traveled back and forth between Finland and Paris.[1]
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He marriedMary Slöör in 1890. The couple had three children: Impi Marjatta (1891-1895),Kirsti (1896-1980) andJorma. On their honeymoon toEast Karelia, Gallen-Kallela started collecting material for his depictions of theKalevala. His work during this period is characterized byromantic paintings of theKalevala, such as theAino Myth, and by several landscape paintings, although by 1894 the influence ofsymbolism is heavily visible in his works.[1]
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In December 1894, Gallen-Kallela moved toBerlin to oversee the joint exhibition of his works with the works ofNorwegian painterEdvard Munch. At the time Gallen-Kallela also designed a grand cabin calledKalela for his family far from everything on the shore ofLake Ruovesi. It was built from dead standing pine by 13 local carpenters in a year from 1894 to 1895.[12][13]
In March 1895, his trip was ended when he received a telegram that his daughter Impi Marjatta had died fromdiphtheria, which would prove to be a turning point in his work. His works had been romantic, but after his daughter's death, Gallen-Kallela's works became more aggressive. From 1896 to 1899, he painted what are considered his most famous works:The Defense of the Sampo,Lemminkäinen's Mother,Joukahainen's Revenge andKullervo's Curse.[1] In May 1895, Gallen and Mary visitedLondon, with his intent being the purchase of agraphic art press. There, he also learned aboutstained glass. At the end of 1897 the family took a trip toFlorence, also visitingPompeii, where he studied the art offrescoes.[1]
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For theParis World Fair in 1900, Gallen-Kallela painted frescoes for the Finnish Pavilion.[1] In the frescoIlmarinen Plowing the Field of Vipers there was a hidden political message: one of the vipers is wearing a smallRomanov crown,[14] telling of Gallen-Kallela's wish for an independent Finland at the time of theRussification of Finland.
The Paris Exposition secured Gallen-Kallela's stature as the leading Finnish artist.[15] In 1901, he was commissioned to paint the fresco,Kullervo Sets Off for War, for the concert hall of the Helsinki Student's Union.[15] Between 1901 and 1903, he painted the frescoes for theJusélius Mausoleum inPori, memorializing the 11-year-old daughter of the industrialistFritz Arthur Jusélius. (The frescoes however were soon damaged by dampness, and were completely destroyed by fire in December 1931. Jusélius assigned the artist's son Jorma to repaint them from the original sketches.[16] The reconstruction was completed just before Jorma's death in 1939.)[1]
Gallen-Kallela officiallyfinnicized his name to Akseli Gallen-Kallela in 1907.[1] His idea for a 700-pageGreat Kalevala [fi] was fully formed in 1909 with a publication of his plan in theValvoja magazine.[17]
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In 1908, with renewal in mind, Gallen-Kallela and his family moved to Paris. However the city and the new direction art was being taken didn't feel as hospitable as he had hoped, and so in May 1909 they moved much further away toNairobi inKenya. He was the first Finnish artist to paint south of theSahara, and produced over 150expressionistic works. Although artistically the paintings are of fluctuating quality, their colors and the synergy of the colors are remarkable. They returned to Finland in February 1911.[1] Between 1911 and 1913, he designed and built a studio and house for his family atTarvaspää, approximately 10 km northwest of the centre of Helsinki.[19]
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The family moved back from Tarvaspää to Kalela in 1915 to escape the turmoil of theFirst World War. In 1918, Gallen-Kallela and his son Jorma took part in the fighting at the front of theFinnish Civil War. When the regent, GeneralMannerheim, heard about that, he invited Gallen-Kallela to design the flags, official decorations and uniforms for the newly independent Finland. For theflag, Gallen-Kallela proposed a white-blue cross flag, with colors inverted (white cross on blue), but it was considered too similar to theSwedish flag and particularly the era'sGreek flag. In 1919, he was appointedaide-de-camp to Mannerheim.[1] In 1920, he made an agreement with the publishing companyWSOY for the eventual publication ofGreat Kalevala, with the less decorativeKoru-Kalevala being published first in 1922.[17]
In December 1923, he moved to theUnited States, where his family followed him in autumn 1924. He first spent time inChicago, and an exhibition of his work toured several cities.[21] In Chicago, he was impressed by Native American art and moved toTaos, New Mexico, at theart colony there to study it further. During his time in the United States, he began sketching out theGreat Kalevala in much more detail. In May 1926, the family returned to Finland. In 1928, together with his son Jorma he painted theKalevala frescoes at the lobby of theNational Museum of Finland. In 1930, he made an agreement to paint a gigantic fresco for the bankKansallis-Osake-Pankki, but on 7 March 1931, while returning from a lecture inCopenhagen, he suddenly died ofpneumonia inStockholm.[1]
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![Page depicting the birth of Väinämöinen from the unfinished Great Kalevala [fi], 1920–1930](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aThe_Great_Kalevala-_Poem_I%2c_verses_301_-_334_(crop).jpg)
His studio and house at Tarvaspää was opened as theGallen-Kallela Museum in 1961 and house some of his works and research facilities on him.[22][23]
Media related toAkseli Gallen-Kallela at Wikimedia Commons
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