Monday, May 14, 2012

The eternal glow of Helene Schjerfbeck


Girl with big eyes (Karin), 1928. Watercolor and coal on paper. Villa Gyllenberg/Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation.
 
”The picture looked more at me than I looked at the picture, stayed in my mind.”
These words by the author Paavo Rintala are not written about Helene Schjerfbeck but they come always to my mind when I see her paintings.
This year celebrates the 150 anniversary of the birth of one of the most important icons in Finnish art. Now she is famous all over the world, but as it so often happens, during her lifetime she was not rich. There were years when she could hardly keep her house warm, nowadays her paintings are so expensive she could buy a house, even several ones.
Of the many exhibitions of her art during this year I mention only two.
This is the last week to see The Spirituality in Art - Helene Schjerfbeck exhibition at Gyllenberg Art Museum, the private museum owned by Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation in Kuusisaari. It is open until Sunday May 20th, and during this last week it is open daily. 
gyllenbergs.fi/en/spirituality-schjerfbeck-english
In the beginning of June Ateneum Art Museum is presenting the largest ever exhibition of Helene Schjerfbeck´s art. Check the details here: www.ateneum.fi/default.asp?showInfo=14385&docId=12532

 
An interesting view into her art opens the new edition of Helene Schjerfbeck Malleja Modeller Models (WSOY). The lovely book tells about her models not only in stories but also in the old photographs.
wsoy.fi/yk/products/show/204851

But how did the artist really look, how did she see herself? 
This most touching video about the changing faces of the artist in her 13 self-portraits shows her uncompromising way to paint


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