Finnish artist, Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931), his real name Axel Gallen, is a painter of the most illustrious of the early twentieth century. The artist explores a diversity of themes and techniques developed in powerful paintings that base his reputation. Since his childhood, he considers that the whole of the nature of his country is inhabited by an invisible and sacred presence! The conception of an animated nature inspires a vast exploration of subjects of northern myths that find themselves intact in their original environment.
After attending the Drawing School of the Beaux-Arts of Helsinki, Gallen-Kallela, stayed three times in Paris between 1884 and 1889. The universal exhibitions and Paris lounges provoke a competition between artists. By the desire to distinguish themselves on the international art scene, Finland is differentiated by its innumerable lakes, its snowy landscapes and its vast expanses of ice, which make it its particularity. The artist acquires an international stature and is made Knight of the Legion of Honor in France in 1902.
Between inspiration and loneliness Gallen-Kallela experiences the need to share his experience. He realizes his dream of having a « home-workshop » that he baptizes « Kalela ». In a silence landscape, it designs architecture and interior decoration. It is a place of artistic exchange and isolation, located north of Helsinki, in a unabated and difficult country of access. Deeply attached to the landscapes that surrounds it, the painter realizes many motives to various styles.
Gallen-Kallela evolves the practice of his art in order to exceed a purely realistic representation of nature. He is interested in engraving and realizes his first works on the wood of Finland, between modernity and ancient art. His first graphic work is called « death and flower » marked by the premature disappearance of his daughter. The girl rests in a decor illustrated by the pattern of the barely hatched flower and who has just been cut off. Plants in Finland are usually painted for Treaties of Botanical Studies.
Exhibition to discover until July 25, 2022
The Jacquemart-André museum is open 7 days a week, from 10h to 18h. Nocturne on Mondays until 20:30 during exposure.
https://www.musee-jacquart-andre.com/
Jacquemart-André Museum
158 Boulevard Haussmann
75008 Paris
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