Helene Schjerfbeck

Helene Schjerfbeck's brother, the architect Magnus Schjerfbeck (1860-1933), was the model for ‘Father from the Family Heirloom’. The story of this tightly delineated portrait is linked to the painting ‘The Family Heirloom’, which Lydia Keirkner bequeathed to the Ateneum Art Museum collection in 1945. ‘The Family Heirloom’ was acquired for the famous art collection of August and Lydia Keirkner as early as 1917. The thick fibres of the canvases of ‘The Family Heirloom’ and ‘Father from the Family Heirloom’ match each other perfectly.

Helene has painted her brother with soft features and, in addition to being a good portrait, it is also proof of Helene's critical approach to her compositions. If the demonstrator of the family jewellery did not fit into the overall picture, he was cut out.

Helene has accepted the portrait, painted in warm colours, as it is and cropped the face to a close-up. With modern generosity, she emphasises the beautiful oval shape of the head and the asymmetry of the eyes. The roughness of the canvas contributes to the almost fresco-like impression of the painting, which blends effortlessly into its surroundings.

In 1930, Helene Schjerfbeck painted a new interpretation of this portrait.

Leena Ahtola-Moorhouse