Ismo Hölttö
ISMO HÖLTTÖ, photograph, pigment print, a tergo signed, ed. 1/7 + 2 ap.
"Two boys with hats", sheet size 112 x 80 cm.
Not examined out of frame.
Exhibitions
Art Museum Ateneum, Helsinki 2015; Kuntsi Art Museum for Modern Art, Vaasa 2015-2016; Rosphoto, St. Petersburg, 2016.
Literature
"Ihminen pääosassa" (People in the Lead Role), Ismo Hölttö, Helsinki,
1989, s. 96.
More information
Suviseurat, Oulu 1966.
Executed year 2015 for an exhibition in Ateneum.
Artist
Ismo Hölttö (b. 1940) is considered one of the greatest Finnish photographers of all time. Hölttö shot the main body of his artistic work during ten years between 1961 and 1970 while working as a goldsmith. The combination of his natural talent, social skills and the special time in history when he photographed his portraits resulted in photography that is also exceptional from an international point of view.
In 1970 Hölttö received a government grant for artistic work, quit his job as a goldsmith and founded his own studio. Hölttö continued to work in commercial photography until the year 2000 when he went into retirement.
Today Hölttö focuses his creative energy on croquis drawing that he started with already in 1964 when he went in to study drawing at Ateneum in his home town Helsinki. A familiar theme still runs in his art: the drawing are powerful, skillfully executed portraits of Finnish people.