Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Portrait of Emil Wikström.
Marked verso; ''Måladt Febr.1883 af Ax.Waldh.Gallén' samt 'Han blir Målare! "Gud skydde den ädle gossen!" Ax.L. (Axel Lindencrona). Oil on board, 38,5x31 cm.
Age-related wear. Nail hole in the centre of the upper edge (under the frame).
"Axel Gallen-Kallela", Turku Art Museum, 24 March - 26 April 1931.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela is counted among Finland's most famous artists, born in 1865 in Pori. He studied at the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Society in Helsinki and later at the Académie Julian in Paris. He worked across various art forms such as painting, graphics, illustrations, textiles, architecture, and even designed military uniforms. Akseli Gallen-Kallela's first significant work, 'Old Woman with a Cat,' challenged the ideals of its time and paved the way for realism in Finnish painting.
Gallen-Kallela was primarily known for his paintings and illustrations for the Finnish national epic, 'Kalevala.' In 1900, he executed dome paintings with Kalevala motifs for the Finnish pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris. His visual language is often described as naturalistic, symbolic, and expressionistic
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