Fanny Churberg

FANNY
CHURBERG
(1845-1892)

For Fanny Churberg her Ostrobothnian roots were very
important. She is also known as an active Fennoman who was
inspired by J.L. Runeberg. Churberg studied drawing, first in
Viipuri, where she was taught by Augusta Soldan, and later
in Helsinki where she was the pupil of Alexandra Såltin and
Emma Gyldén. Fanny Churbergs was also taught by her good
friend Berndt Lindholm.
Together with Lindholm, Fanny Churberg travelled to Düsseldorf
where she intended to study landscape painting. At
this time Düsseldorf was an important art centre and the university
there was renowned. For Churberg, who was a great
admirer of the city and of German culture, Düsseldorf was a
natural choice. This choice had also been influenced by her
previous teachers who had studied Art there. Since female
students were not accepted at the Art Academy, Churberg
was taught privately by the German artist Carl Ludwig. In
1875 Fanny Churberg went to Paris where she stayed until the
following spring. Unlike the other Finnish women painters in
Paris Churberg did not attend any of the Art academies that
allowed women students. She chose to take private lessons
and was taught by the Swedish artist, Wilhelm von Gegerfeldt.
Fanny Churberg did however, not find Paris as inspiring as
Düsseldorf had been.
In 1880 Churberg abandoned painting and dedicated herself
to the “Friends of ‘Textile Art Association in Finland”, an Arts
and Crafts movement which she had co-founded in 1879 and
where she was an innovative force to be reckoned with. During
the 1880s Fanny Churberg led the association. She created
patterns, instructed seamstresses and dedicated herself to informative
activities. She also worked as an Art critic for the
newspapers Finland, Morgonbladet and Wasabladet. Fanny
Churberg was a source of inspiration for younger female artists
such as Helene Schjerfbeck who said of Fanny Churberg
that “she has a magician’s ability to create passion”.

EVENING VIEW (1877)

Winter sunsets and the dusk that followed were recurring
themes in her work during the late 1870s. At the beginning
of the 19th century sunsets had been a subject favoured by
German artists. Fanny Churberg painted her landscapes with
strong brushstrokes and there are often elements that hint at
a human presence: a little cottage where light is burning in the
window. This evocative work, however, is not a winter landscape.
The trees that are silhouetted against the evening sky
still carry leaves. Here and there lights can be detected. On
the sparsely lit road in the foreground, one can detect another
interesting detail: there are a few barely discernible coaches
travelling on the road.

Text Anne-Maria Pennonen