Helene Schjerfbeck

In 1902, Helene Schjerfbeck moved, partly for health reasons, to the small town of Hyvinge, five miles north of Helsinki. Here she came to live with her mother in a small apartment with one room and a kitchen. The arrangement lasted until the mother's death in 1923. During the first fifteen years in Hyvininga, Schjerfbeck refrained from traveling to Helsinki. However, she continued to paint and regularly submitted works to exhibitions and raffles in both Helsinki and Turku. Some contact with the outside world also existed during these years, mainly via correspondence with friends and through subscriptions to international art magazines.

During these years, knotted piles (rya) became popular in Finnish art life. Schjerfbeck also wanted to try her hand at the craft and composed patterns and scenes for wall hangings, tablecloths and cushions for Finska Handarbetets Vänner. The watercolour in this auction is a study for the tapestry "The Tree of Life" which depicts a courting couple in front of a tree. The woman is portrayed with her eyes closed and red hair flying loose. Schjerfbeck made another version of the study of the woman, compare the drawing mentioned in Ahtela's catalog from 1953, cat. no 333.