Akseli Gallen-Kallela

1865 – 1931

Akseli Gallen‐Kallela was a Finnish painter famous primarily for his illustrations of the 19th century Finnish national epic poem ‘Kalevala’. These works were conceived as a manifesto of Finnish identity and a plea for independence. Gallen‐Kallela produced hundreds of emotional paintings of Finland’s countryside and its dwellers, incorporating a mixture of Realist and Symbolist styles as well as a deliberately archaic, medievalist style. His paintings convey the sense of a broad cultural communality which were to be read through an explicitly political lens. Gallen‐Kallela is therefore recognised as one of the leading voices of the nineteenth‐century patriotic movement of Finland.

Akseli Gallen‐Kallela (christened Axel Waldemar Gallén) was born in the small village of Pori, Finland in 1865. Although he was born into a Swedish‐speaking family, he is famous primarily for his illustrations of the 19th century Finnish national epic poem ‘Kalevala’. This composition assembles collective oral traditions and recounts the ancient Finnish creation myth of the earth, plants and animals through a set of old ballads, lyrical songs and incantations. Throughout his career Gallen‐Kallela also produced hundreds of emotional paintings of Finland’s countryside and its dwellers, always incorporating a mixture of artistic styles of the time, such as Realism and Symbolism.

A keen artist since his early years, Gallen‐Kallela began drawing classes at the Finnish Art Society in 1881. He then started an apprenticeship under the well‐established Finnish painter Adolf von Becker the following year. Inspired by French Realism and eager to experience a more cosmopolitan life, in 1884 he decided to move to Paris to study at the Académie Julian.

Gallen‐Kallela’s artistic and political concerns, however, brought him back to his homeland. In 1888 he painted a triptych based on a scene from the ‘Kalevala’ poem, the ‘Aino’ myth of creation. The first of many paintings on this subject, the work immediately brought him to fame and prompted the Finnish government to commission a second version. Over the years, Gallen‐Kallela’s ‘Kalevala’ paintings helped turn the poem into a manifesto of Finnish identity and a plea for independence, which acquired a particular political importance as the country’s relationship with Russia declined.

These works employ a deliberately archaic, medievalist style, combining mystical depictions of nature with the emotional narratives of Finnish folk tales. Forms and colours assume symbolic meanings and convey the sense of a broad cultural communality which viewers would read through an explicitly political lens.

Despite his love for Finland as well as its history and landscapes, Gallen‐Kallela travelled extensively throughout Europe and beyond. In 1894 he moved to Berlin, where he organised a joint exhibition with the celebrated Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. After visiting London and Italy, in 1909 he moved to Nairobi, Kenya with his family. There, he collected African artefacts and painted more than a hundred Expressionist oil paintings such as ‘Mount Kenya’ (1909). The artworks of this period depict still lifes, landscapes and vivid scenes of typical colonial life, with bold colours and thick impasto bordering on abstraction.

In 1918 Gallen‐Kallela and his son Jorma returned to Finland to join the frontlines of the Finnish Civil War, travelling through the United States and South America after its finish.

Gallen‐Kallela died in 1931 before he could finish his illustrations for the book ‘Great Kalevala’. Throughout his career, he experimented with different artistic styles, moving fluidly between Realism, Symbolism and Expressionism. His transformative style is echoed in his itinerant life, spent between Finland, Europe, Russia and America. His studio and house in Tarvaspää were turned into a museum in 1961 and today he is recognised as one of the leading voices of the nineteenth‐century patriotic movement of Finland.