Hugo Simberg
Today is our last day of our special feature of Finnish National Gallery's collection, which we could present thanks to Europeana.eu :) Next Sunday we start our special month with another fantastic set of masterpieces - can't wait to see your reactions!
Hugo Gerhard Simberg (24 June 1873 – 12 July 1917) was a Finnish symbolist painter and graphic artist. Simberg is one of the key artists of Finnish symbolism. His works feature a gallery of fantasy characters, including angels, devils and Death, depicted in an inimitable fashion.
The early 1890s was a time of change in fine art. A new style, Symbolism, emerged to complement art that sought to depict the visible world. At that time, Simberg, who studied in traditional and academic Ateneum picked up his courage and wrote to Axel Gallén*, who was building a ‘wilderness studio’ in Ruovesi, and asked to be accepted as a private student. The master’s positive reply signalled the beginning of a new, important phase in Simberg’s artistic career. For Simberg the Ruovesi period was a time of discovering his creativity. With the bustle and responsibilities of city life behind him, he suddenly came face to face with the Finnish wilderness and a darkening autumn.
Created in 1895 , The Fairy-Tale I is one of Simberg’s key works where powerful effect of nature, Simberg’s fantasy world and artistic goals all converged into a completely unique form.
“I think a work of art is a work that speaks to me of another world and arouses in me the feeling that the artist wants to convey. It must lead my thoughts to something we do not think about every day, and I must see the image in my mind and think about it afterwards for a long, long time. It is quite obvious that that can be achieved by good naturalism, but it is even more obvious that it can be achieved easier through stylisation.”
– Hugo Simberg in a letter to his twin brother, Paul Simberg, on 2 February 1896. Hugo Simberg Archive, Finnish National Gallery.
If you would like to know more about Finnish art you can read our today's article on DailyArt Magazine on Werner Holmberg’s Road in Häme. Enjoy!