Kirsti Gallen-Kallela

Kirsti Gallen-Kallela (1896-1980) was an accomplished artist whose own career was to some extent overshadowed by her famous father. Kirsti was born and spent her first years in Ruovesi at Akseli Gallen-Kallela's studio home Kalela. During these years she joined her parents on their trips abroad. She studied visual arts under her father’s mentorship, while also pursuing a career as a cello artist.

After spending most of the 1920s in the United States, the family settled in Tarvaspää, where her father’s studio had been built in 1913. After her father’s unexpected passing in 1931, Kirsti, who had always been devoted to her father was distraught by bottomless sadness and emptiness, started seeking comfort in her crafts.
Kirsti Gallen-Kallela finished her art studies at the Ateneum, and together with her close friend Lahja Pelttari, retreated to Tarvaspää, where she had established a rug mill. There they designed and weaved rugs using three looms in the “cold hall of an empty villa”. Kirsti Gallen-Kallela's carpets were soon after presented at the Strindberg Art Salon, where their embellishment and coloring received tremendous admiration.

The story of the Tarvaspää rug mill was unfortunately cut short, as the operation was not proven profitable. We believe that a significant reason for the haste shut down of the rug mill was due to the Winter War breaking out it 1939, forcing Kirsti and her mother Mary to relocate from Tarvaspää when the army entered the premises.