GALLEN-KALLELA, Akseli

Finnish painter, graphic artist and designer. He was closely associated with notions of National RomanticismGLOSSARYA term loosely applied to literary and artistic movements of the late 18th and 19th centuries. Resulting in part from the libertarian and egalitarian ideals of the French Revolution, the romantic movements had in common only a revolt against the prescribed rules of classicism. The basic aims of romanticism were various: a return to nature and to belief in the goodness of humanity; the rediscovery of the artist as a supremely individual creator; the development of nationalistic pride; and the exaltation of the senses and emotions over reason and intellect. In addition, romanticism was a philosophical revolt against rationalism., especially relating to the region of Karelia, also a source of inspiration for the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

In 1881-84 he studied at the Finnish Art Society in Helsinki and the private academy of Adolf von Becker (1831-1909). In 1884-89 he was in Paris and studied at the Académie Julian under Bouguereau and at Cormon's studio. He began realistic plen-air painting under the influence of Bastien-Lepage. He exhibited at the SalonGLOSSARYIn the French language of the 18th and 19th centuries it designated an actual exhibition space, as well as the academic art exhibitions staged in the Salon d'Apollon of the Louvre since 1667. From 1737, the exhibitions took place biennially and, after the French Revolution, annually in the Salon Carré of the Louvre in Paris. Towards the end of the 19th century the official Salon jury was dissolved in order to make way for a committee of state-approved artists, i.e. former Salon members, who created the highly influential Société des Artistes Français. in 1888 and 1889, he was the first Finnish painter to become a member of the Société Nationale de Beaux-Arts.

On returning to Finland, he became fascinated with the 'Kalevala' epic, a compilation of ancient poetry celebrating the mythic origins of Finland, on which he decided to baseGLOSSARYmolded foot of a pillar or column providing the transition from the plinth to the shaft. his art. Following a national competition in 1891 Gallen-Kallela illustrated this national epic, the vivid images of which soon became widely known throughout Finland. He also made a significant contribution to the Finnish PavilionGLOSSARYA lightly constructed, ornamental building, such as a garden summerhouse; a small, ornamental structure built onto a palace or cháteau; a prominent section of a monumental façade, projecting either centrally or at both ends. at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900 in which he painted frescoes on Kalevala themes in the main domeGLOSSARYin architecture, hemispherical structure evolved from the arch, usually forming a ceiling or roof., as well as designing textiles and furniture.

By the mid-1890s Gallen-Kallela began to incorporate Symbolist motifs in his work. His landscape paintings of about 1900 show the influence of both Gauguin and Monet.

At the end of 1894 he went to Berlin, in 1895 he became acquainted with the Arts and Crafts movementGLOSSARYThe Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that began in Britain and flourished in Europe and North America between about 1880 and 1920, emerging in Japan in the 1920s as the Mingei movement. It stood for traditional craftsmanship using simple forms, and often used medieval, romantic, or folk styles of decoration. It had a strong influence on the arts in Europe until it was displaced by Modernism in the 1930s, and its influence continued among craft makers, designers, and town planners long afterwards. The movement was inspired by the ideas of architect Augustus Pugin, writer John Ruskin, and designer William Morris. It developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. in London. In 1897-99 he studied frescoGLOSSARYWall painting technique in which pigments are applied to wet (fresh) plaster (intonaco). The pigments bind with the drying plaster to form a very durable image. Only a small area can be painted in a day, and these areas, drying to a slightly different tint, can in time be seen. Small amounts of retouching and detail work could be carried out on the dry plaster, a technique known as a secco fresco. technique in Italy. In 1903 he was at the Vienna Secession and in 1910 showed with the "Brücke" in Munich. Later he traveled in East Africa and in the USA. He died in 1931 while working on illustrations for a large edition of the Kalevala.

Gallen-Kallela's distinctive contribution to Finnish culture is preserved in the Gallen-Kallela Museum, which was originally built by him as a studio and family home between 1911 and 1913 and now contains a large body of his work, including paintings, graphics, textiles, jewellery, stained glass, and architectural designs.