Parading My Ignorance, or: Painters I should Have Known About (003)

This is the continuation of an earlier piece about Albert Edelfelt. 1854 - 1905

Edelfelt, like his father, did not live a very long life. A relatively short 51 years.
His career as a successful artist lasted about 25 years, during which time he produced some 1400 paintings.
It is surprising how few of these works are left as his legacy today.

Nearly half Edelfelt’s output was in the form of portraits, and it is possible that many of these still hang in the houses of the original sitters.

Here’s a self portrait from his Paris years:

Edelfelt spent around 15 years in Paris, enjoying the milieu and the good life. He would spend many of his summers in Finland.

His big breakthrough came in 1885 when he produced his portrait of Louis Pasteur.

Here’s the study for the portrait:

Louis Pasteur Study.

Louis Pasteur Portrait.

Snow On Roofs. 1887

Boats in Harbour.

Raspberries in the Woods.

In The Boudoir.

Beach at Haikko.

Annie Edelfelt. (Albert’s youngest sister)

Ellan de la Chapelle. The wife of the artist.

Berta Edelfelt. The daughter of the artist.

Berta Edelfelt. The daughter of the artist, a little older.

The Terrasse at Beaulieu.

Study for Burnt Village.

Burnt Village.

Below is a (slightly higher resolution) re-post of The Child’s Funeral, the painting that so shocked Finnish society in 1880.
Compare it with the next picture down, that Edelfelt painted a year earlier, and which gave him the inspiration for The Child’s Funeral.

A Child’s Funeral.

A Child’s Funeral (Study).

Here’s a delightful little colour sketch of a model silhouetted against a window.

Lady on a Balcony (Study).

Now, two versions of Edelfelt’s masterpiece, In The Luxembourg Gardens.
First, the study:

And now the finished painting:

In the Luxembourg Gardens

Log Jam

Lily Pond.

Male Nude 1.

Male Nude 2.

Male Nude 3.

Ladies Outside Church.

Lady Dreaming Outside Church

Pastel

Again, another higher resolution version of “Sorrow”.

Suru / Sorrow.

Now here’s the enigmatic Viginie, in slightly higher resolution.

Virginie.

Just before his death (from a heart attack) Edelfelt was commissioned to paint a mural in the hall of the Turun / Turku Academy. The Finns finally got what they wanted from their peripatetic son. A fine historic painting glorifying Finland.

Turku.

1854 (21st July) Born in Porvoo, Southern Finland
1871 Enters University of Helsinki
1873 Enters the Antwerp (Belgium) Academie des Beaux-Arts
1874 Enters the ‘Ecole nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris (France)
1879 Paints the Child’s Funeral, a first step in establishing Finnish realism
1882 Exhibits the Church Service on Nyland at the Salon, for which he wins a 2nd Class medal
1883 Becomes Europe’s most in-demand portraitist, and gains enduring popularity in Russia
1883 In a group show at the Pett Gallery he represents the Nordic countries as well as Russia
1885 Completes the portrait of Louis Pasteur
1887 Exhibits The Luxembourg Gardens at the Salon. He is decorated with the Legion d’Honneur, later becoming an officer and then a commander
1888 Marriage to the Finnish noblewoman Ellan de la Chappelle
1890 Made life member of the Societe des Beaux-Arts
1905 Dies on 18th August at Borgaen

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2 Comments

Jane Tozer

Posted 16 January, 2008 at 5:55 pm | Permalink

Perhaps you’ve been told that the “Lady Dreaming Outside Church” is the portrait of an extraordinary woman called Larin Paraske. The picture was probably painted in her home village in what is now Russian Karelia. Rather than dreaming, it’s more likely that she’s in a creative trance. A renowned poem-singer, Paraske memorised thousands of songs, including passages from the great Finnish myth-sequence, Kalevala. Her work was transcribed & notated by a pastor, who went with her to Helsinki, where she performed to great acclaim. Her singing was a major influence on the music of Sibelius, and a beacon to the movement for Finnish independence. Without Paraske, a huge body of oral culture would have been lost to the world. The language she spoke, Ingrian-Finnish, is now seriously endangered. Look her up on the web. She’s an inspiration to us all. In case you’re wondering about my interest in her, I’m a poet myself. Best wishes, Jane
michael

Posted 17 January, 2008 at 1:09 am | Permalink

@Jane, I’d like to thank you very much for adding meaning and context for this picture. I always wondered about that faraway, glassy stare. If you click on the little picture, you’ll find the magnified version that springs up has her name in the border. Because I don’t speak Finnish, I didn’t realise that the words “Larin Paraske” were the woman’s name. Thanks for the enlightenment!