Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Today we present a pure landscape, the work that powerfully conveys the enduring inspiration the Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela took from nature, and his profound respect for Finland's wilderness. This scene's sense of tranquility and timelessness belies the turmoil in which Finland was embroiled in these years. In August 1915 the artist and his family fled their home at Tarvaspää outside Helsinki, having settled there only two years before. At that time the Russian Army was increasingly imposing itself in and around Helsinki, as it sought to quell the public unrest that would later lead to Finnish independence in December 1917.
Gallen-Kallela painted the present work from the environs of his wilderness studio Kalela, a place that held a special significance for him and to which he had only just returned after some 15 years of absence. He had constructed it in 1895 on a rocky promontory overlooking Lake Ruovesi. Inspired by the massive farmhouses of Karelia that he had visited on his honeymoon, he incorporated into its design many of the ancient motifs that he had found. It was at Kalela that his wife gave birth to their children Kirsti (1896) and Jorma (1898). And it was there that he worked on some of his most important projects.
Dear DailyArt users, we need your help! Please consider donating to the development of our new DailyArt apps. Without them we won't be able to operate much longer, as the ones you use now are too old. :( Learn how you can help!
P.S. This is a beautiful winter landscape ... Do you know the most famous winter scene in Western art history?