Lot 316: AKSELI GALLEN-KALLELA FINNISH, 1865-1931

signed and dated GALLEN / 1902 l.r.

oil on canvas laid on board

43 by 29cm., 17 by 11 1/2 in.

Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomen Museo, Reallismia ja kansallisromantiikkaa, 1986, no. 83

PROPERTY OF A SCANDINAVIAN PRIVATE COLLECTOR

Acquired by the father of the present owner in the 1930s; thence by descent

In landscapes and mythologies alike Gallen-Kallela sought to create an epic pictorial language linking contemporary Finland with a heroic past. As the nation's fragile political identity was increasingly challenged by Russia, he mined literary and natural resources to generate an authentic, emphatically indigenous pictorial culture.

In his paintings, wild, untamed nature was used by Gallen-Kallela as a symbol of the strength and resolution of the Finnish people. In the present work, the solidly entrenched trunk of a silver birch is perhaps symbolic of the immovability of the Finnish people, while in its bark can be seen the outline of a helmeted warrior from Finnish legend.

This work was probably painted while Gallen-Kallela was staying in Kuuminainen near Pori to paint the frescoes in the Jusélius chapel during the summer and autumn of 1902.