Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Akseli Gallen-Kallela is the major artist of Finland, the only one to have gained international recognition during his lifetime, and one of the key figures in the resurgence of Finnish culture during a time of struggle for independence from Russia in 1917.
Throughout his career, the landscape played a crucial role for Gallen-Kallela, embodying Finnish cultural identity just as much as the legends of the Kalevala or traditional costumes and crafts.
It was in the summer of 1892, while searching for a residence in the heart of Finland, that Gallen-Kallela stayed by Lake Paanajärvi. There, he painted his first "pure" landscapes, free from any figures, as a direct expression of a Finnish soul nurtured by nature. Palokärki (Black Woodpecker) was painted in this quest for roots. Through the bird's presence, the painter imbues the landscape with an allegorical dimension, that of a man shouting his loneliness. A more political interpretation has been made of the motif, representing a country struggling against Russian occupation, alone in adversity. Gallen-Kallela first made a large gouache drawing of the subject, which did not satisfy him, and he tore it up. His wife collected and glued the pieces back together on a canvas the following winter, and the artist revised his judgment. He then began to work on the current oil version, in the same imposing size, which he completed in 1894.
P.S. Want to relax after a busy Monday? Explore these beautiful depictions of animals in the wild!