Some Finnish Women Painters

By Helena Westermarck, Critic and Painter

ART in Finland, pictorial art, like much else in that country, is a young growth. It is in the nineteenth century that we are first able to verify its existence, and it is only in the year 1840, or thereabouts, that we find any traces of women who seriously devoted themselves to the study of painting. The pioneers in this may be said to be Mathilda Rotkirch and Victoria Abey.

Somewhat later, in or about 1870, Fanny Churberg, after working in Düsseldorf and Paris, evinced much independent and original talent in landscape painting, her art having also an inaugural character, in that she was the first who applied herself to the decoration of textile fabrics, adapting to her purpose the old national Finnish patterns, a practice which has since then had a large following in the field of applied design. Her career, unfortunately, was soon ended by illness and an early death. After her came the generation of women artists who are at present carrying forward a young school of enthusiastic workers.

In the sphere of painting, the women artists of Finland study under much the same circumstances as their male comrades. The Schools of Art subsidized by the State are open both to male and to female pupils, and this applies also to all prizes and rewards of merit. Some account of the principal women painters may be of interest.

Maria Wiik (1853), after an apprenticeship in the Finnish Schools of Art and in Professor Becker's Private Academy, spent several years of study in Paris—occasionally moving her easel in the summers to Brittany, to Normandy, or even to St. Ives, in England. She has further developed her art in later years by visits to Holland and to Italy. Her talent lies in the direction of portrait and genre painting and she has now the name of being among the best Finnish portrait painters. She has executed many public commissions, such as the portrait of the Professor at the Rein University in Helsingfors, for the Finnish Literary Society, and that of the poet, Z. Topelius, for a large public school for girls. Many will remember her portrait of the School Inspector, Ohberg, which now hangs in the Helsingfors Board School. Maria Wiik has exhibited at the Paris Salons, and at picture exhibitions in Moscow, Copenhagen, and Dresden, and besides the prizes awarded her in her own country, she has received a bronze medal in Paris (1900) for a picture painted in St. Ives, called, "Out into the World."

Helene Schjerfbeck (1863), also a pupil of the Finnish Schools of Art and of Prof. Becker's Private Academy, continued her studies in Paris and afterwards visited Brittany, England, Austria and Italy. She has painted some important historical pictures, taking her subjects from Finnish and Swedish history, as in her two admirable paintings, "Liuköping's Prison in 1600" and "The Death of W. v. Schwerin." She has also painted a few landscapes and a number of genre pictures, many of them with subjects taken from French and English life. Helene Schjerfbeck has exhibited both at home and at the Paris Salons, has twice been awarded the lesser money prize given yearly by the Finnish State (for the two historical pictures mentioned above), while at the Exhibition in Paris in 1889, she received a bronze medal. She has also held an appointment as teacher in the Finnish Academy of Art, in the department of painting and in the drawing class from the living model. Her many pictures have been among the best that our women artists have produced.

Venny Soldan-Brofeldt (1860) is another pupil of the Finnish Schools of Art and of Prof. Becker's Academy, and has studied later in Paris, and in Spain and Italy. Her best work is in the genre style, many of her pictures being very characteristic and true scenes of Finnish peasant life, such as "Meal time in a Peasant's Hut" and "Pietists." Her landscapes, too, are remarkable for a sensitive conception of Nature; especially is this true of her pictures of our coast scenery, with its low granite rocks, washed over by the sea waves. Mrs. Soldan-Brofeldt has illustrated also some books for children, among others a part of a large Scandinavian edition of Topelius' Saga tales for children. At the Paris Exhibition of 1889, she received a "Mention Honorable," and in 1900, a bronze medal. She is the wife of the author, Juhani Aho. Brofeldt. Mrs. Soldan-Brofeldt's work is not illustrated in this book, as a photograph of her most important picture was broken into fragments in its journey from Finland to London.

It is characteristic of all these painters that their artistic bias was determined by their study in Paris of the French naturalists, who inspired them with a stern respect for drawing, and taught them to study Nature seriously. Starting from this common standpoint, they have, whilst working in their own way, developed along their own individual lines.

Many another woman artist deserves mention, but the limited space at my disposal permits me to give only a list of their names.

There is Ellen Thesleff, a figure painter; there is Elin Danielson-Gambogi (wife of the Italian painter, R. Gambogi), well-known for her portraits and landscapes; there is Julia Stigzelius de Cock (wife of the Belgian artist, Césare de Cock), a clever landscape painter; there is Amélie Lundahl, figure painter; and Ada Thilén, with her landscapes; and Hanna Rönnberg, with her subject pictures and outdoor scenes; and Anna Sahlstén, a figure painter; and last, but not least, I name Annie Torselles-Schybergson, a good painter of animals.

HELENA WESTERMARCK.

SILHOUETTE BY NELLY BODENHEIM.

Russian School, 1884

"A MEETING." AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING IN THE LUXEMBOURG, PARIS, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY LEVY & SONS, PARIS Mademoiselle Marie Bashkirtseff, Painter 1860-1884

German School, XVII Century

PLANT STUDY PAINTED IN WATER-COLOUR ON VELLUM. AFTER ONE OF THE MANY DRAWINGS BY THE SAME ARTIST IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. THEY ONCE BELONGED TO SIR HANS SLOANE, WHO PURCHASED THEM AT A HIGH PRICE. Maria Sibylla Merian (Frau Graff), Painter 1647-1717

German School, XVII Century

PORTRAIT ETCHED BY HERSELF OF ANNA MARIA SCHURMAN PERHAPS THE MOST FAMOUS LINGUIST OF HER TIME IN EUROPE Anna Maria Schurman, Painter-Etcher 1607-1678

PLANT STUDY PAINTED IN WATER-COLOUR ON VELLUM. REPRODUCED FROM THE ORIGINAL DRAWING IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM Maria Sibylla Merian (Frau Graff), Painter 1647-1717

German School, End of XVIII Century

GYPSIES ON A COMMON AFTER GEORGE MORLAND Frau Maria Catharina Prestel, Engraver Died 1794

German School, 1817 and 1820

PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN. FROM THE ORIGINAL ETCHING IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM Anna Marie Ellenrieder, Painter-Etcher 1791-1863

PORTRAIT OF A MAN. REPRODUCED FROM THE ORIGINAL ETCHING IN BRITISH MUSEUM Anna Marie Ellenrieder, Painter-Etcher 1791-1863

German School, Late XIX Century

A GIRL OF BOHEMIA. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS Caroline von Maupeou, Painter

BRETON GIRL PRAYING. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS Frau Adelaïde Salles-Wagner, Painter

German School, Contemporary

PORTRAIT OF FRÄULEIN VON SYDOW. FROM THE ORIGINAL PAINTING Fräulein Maria Davids, Painter

PORTRAIT. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY HANFSTAENGL KINDLY LENT BY THE ARTIST Jeanna Bauck, Painter

German and Spanish Schools, Contemporary

A WOODLAND LAKE. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE Jeanna Bauck, Painter, Germany

THE CASTLE AND PALACE OF PENA IN CINTRA. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY J. LAURENT & CO., MADRID Maria G. Silva Reis, Painter, Spain

German School, Contemporary

MOTHERHOOD. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH LENT BY THE ARTIST Dora Hitz, Painter

DESOLATION AND DESPAIR AFTER THE ORIGINAL ETCHING Fräulein Käthe Kollwitz, Painter-Etcher

German School, Contemporary

PORTRAIT OF A LITTLE GIRL. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANZ KULLRICH, BERLIN, LENT BY THE ARTIST Dora Hitz, Painter

PORTRAIT OF WILHELM JENSEN, POET AND HISTORICAL NOVELIST. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING FROM A PHOTOGRAPH LENT BY THE ARTIST Frau Marie Jensen, Painter

German and Swiss Schools, Contemporary

PORTRAIT OF A SCULPTOR. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANZ KULLRICH KINDLY LENT BY THE ARTIST Frau Julie Wolfthorn, Painter Germany

"ANAÏS." AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO. Mlle. Louise Breslau, Painter Switzerland

Swiss School, Contemporary

THEIR DAILY BREAD. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING, REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION FROM A CARBON PRINT BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO. Mademoiselle Ottilie Roederstein, Painter

Austrian School, Contemporary

SPRINGTIME IN THE PRATER, VIENNA. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY J. LÖWY, VIENNA, KINDLY LENT BY THE ARTIST Frau Tina Blau-Lang, Painter

Austrian School, Contemporary

BY THE SHORE OF LETHE LAKE AFTER A PROOF OF THE ORIGINAL ETCHING Fräulein Hermine Laucota, Painter-Etcher

Austrian School, Contemporary

VIEW IN THE PRATER, VIENNA. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY J. LÖWY, VIENNA, KINDLY LENT BY THE ARTIST Frau Tina Blau-Lang, Painter

Finnish School, Contemporary

PORTRAIT OF A LADY. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE Maria Wiik, Painter

Finnish School, 1887

THE CONVALESCENT AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING Helene Schjerfbeck, Painter

Swiss School, Contemporary

"LE MOIS DE MARIE." REPRODUCED AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO. Mademoiselle Ottilie Roederstein, Painter

Finnish School, from 1887 to about 1895

PREPARING TO LEAVE HOME. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL PAINTING, DATED 1887 Maria Wiik, Painter

AT WORK. REPRODUCED FROM A CARBON-PRINT PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL PAINTING Helene Schjerfbeck, Painter

Finnish and Swiss Schools, about 1904

A FINNISH PEASANT GIRL FROM THE ORIGINAL DRAWING Ellen Thesleff, Painter Finland

A PORTRAIT-GROUP OF FRIENDS. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO Mlle. Louise Breslau, Painter Switzerland

Russian School, XIX Century

PORTRAIT OF MARIE BASHKIRTSEFF. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PASTEL IN THE MUSÉE DU LUXEMBOURG, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY LÉVY & SONS, PARIS Mlle. Marie Bashkirtseff, Pastellist 1860-1884

PORTRAIT OF THE COMTESSE DE TOULOUSE. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PASTEL IN THE MUSÉE DU LUXEMBOURG, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN Mlle. Marie Bashkirtseff, Pastellist 1860-1884

German and Russian Schools, 1870 and 1903

PORTRAIT (DATED 1870) OF THE LATE LUDWIG WINDHORST, GERMAN STATESMAN FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY V. A. BRUCKMANN, MUNICH Frau Vilma Parlaghy, Painter Germany

PORTRAIT OF A LADY (DATED 1903), RECENTLY PURCHASED FOR THE LUXEMBOURG, PARIS Mlle. Olga de Boznanska, Painter Russia

Spanish School, 1875

A CARRIAGE RACE AT NAPLES FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY J. LAURENT & CO., MADRID Doña Stuart Sindici, Painter

Spanish School, 1881

A SCENE AT COMILLAS. REPRODUCED AFTER THE ORIGINAL WATER-COLOUR, DATED 1881, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY J. LAURENT & CO., MADRID Infante Doña Paz de Bourbon, Painter

Spanish School, 1887

OUTSIDE A ROMAN HOSTELRY FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY J. LAURENT & CO., MADRID Doña Elena Brockmann, Painter

Spanish School, 1881 and 1890

MY MODEL. AFTER THE ORIGINAL WATER-COLOUR, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY LAURENT, MADRID Infante Doña Paz de Bourbon, Painter

STUDY OF A BABY LAUGHING. AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY J. LAURENT & CO., MADRID Antonia de Bañuelos, Painter

Spanish School, 1883

"THE LITTLE FISHERS." AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS Antonia de Bañuelos, Painter