(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Nearly sixty thousand people have visited the National Gallery to see the exhibition "The Magical North", with Finnish and Norwegian art from around 1900. 18. June opens the same exhibition at the Ateneum, Finland's National Gallery in Helsinki. It is expected that the exhibition will also attract great interest there.
According to the exhibition catalog, the idea behind the exhibition is to look at the common features of Finnish and Norwegian art within the framework of European symbolism. In Norway as well as in Finland, art played a key role in highlighting the uniqueness of national culture and strengthening the community's sense of community. During this period, artists and writers throughout Europe drew inspiration from national mythologies to create art and literature that sought to be modern in form and practice, but at the same time firmly rooted in cultural heritage.
Adversity. In fact, it is after my second round of the exhibition that strikes me. Where are the women? Of a total of twelve Norwegian artists, only one woman, Helene Vosgraff (1853 – 1935), who is represented with the portrait Mother Valves. It's probably not just for me that Vosgraff is an unknown name. The following can be read about the artist in the exhibition catalog: «Helene Vosgraff is a fairly undescribed magazine in Norwegian art history. She was born into an officer family, and it was not until she was well into adulthood that she began her art education. She studied at art academies in both Berlin and Paris. In Kristiania, she received proofreading by Harriet Backer and Eilif Peterssen. At the same time, she was criticized for her sometimes helpless style and lack of talent. " Poor Helene Vosgraff, is my immediate thought. Gaining recognition as a female artist in the late 1800th century was, to put it mildly, difficult. Nevertheless, there were examples of women who managed to overcome both prejudice and adversity. In the aftermath of significant art – such as that of Harriet Backer and Kitty Kielland – are there really more active female artists in the period from 1890 to 1914 that would have been interesting to highlight? The painter Lalla Hvalstad (1875–1962) is silently present on "The Magic North" in the form of a portrait that artist colleague Thorvald Erichsen painted of her in 1897. But no own painting signed by Lalla Hvalstad can be found.
Marginalized and forgotten. Lalla Hvalstad was among the painters who spent the summer of 1894 in Vågå. This Vågå summer has become a concept in Norwegian art history. Of the ten young painters who were gathered in the small village in Nord-Gudbrandsdal, four were women. While most of the male artists, such as Halfdan Egedius, Lars Jorde, Oluf Wold-Torne and Thorvald Erichsen, have gone down in history, the female four-leaf clover Johanna Bugge, Kris Laache, Alice Pihl and Lalla Hvalstad have disappeared into oblivion.
The immature artist Halfdan Egedius participates in "The Magic North" with four pictures, including the famous painting Saturday evening. Egedius was only 16 years old when he painted the picture of the two men walking in the bright summer night. Egedius became seriously ill and died before he turned 22, but still managed to make a lasting impression in art history.
Enclosed rooms. Egedius was "seen." The same cannot be said of the female artists who worked at this time. Alice Pihl participated in the Autumn Exhibition a number of times, as well as in the Norwegian exhibition in Stockholm in 1904. Lalla Hvalstad was also active as a painter for several years before she switched to working with ceramics. Johanna Bugge exhibited a number of times at the Autumn Exhibition, and also at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. Kris Laache also participated a number of times at the Autumn Exhibition – and at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 she received an award for her painting Portrait of a young man girl. But while the paintings of the male artists were often bought in by the National Museum or other art institutions, the women's paintings ended up in the closed rooms.
Lifts forward. When Lillehammer Art Museum in 1994 showed the exhibition "Vågå summer 1894", it was on the basis of extensive detective work by the then curator Svein Olav Hoff. The paintings of the female Vågå painters were mainly to be found in private collections. Lillehammer Kunstmuseum has repeatedly focused on female art – such as Sophie Calle's "Take care of yourself" and the exhibition "Female pioneers, new voices", both from 2013. When asked about the women's representation in "The Magic North", director Hoff answers that he would have liked to see Kitty Kielland represented with one of her early works, in addition to Alice Pihl or Lalla Hvalstad.
But the exhibition "The Magic North" embraces far wider than just the Vågå painters. Among the other Norwegian artists are Edvard Munch, Christian Skredsvig, Theodor Kittelsen, Gerhard Munthe, Harald Sohlberg and Gustav Vigeland. All well-known names, represented by works that many will probably nod in recognition of. Female artists such as Signe Scheel, Marie Hauge, Ambrosia Tønnesen and Helga Ring Reusch all shine with their absence. I think there are more of us who are curious about these hard-working women who often sacrificed a lot to appear as artists. Unfortunately, neglect and marginalization tend to repeat themselves. It requires awareness and an open eye for women to be lifted out of the quiet rooms.
More Finnish women. Works by Pekka Hallonen, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Hugo Simberg and Helene Schjerfbeck, among others, are shown from Finland. On the Finnish side, the proportion of women is greater. Helene Schjerfbeck is represented with two photos, while Elin Danielson-Gambogi, Beda Stjernschantz and Ellen Thesleff all participate with one photo each. 4-1 to Finland when it comes to female representation, in other words – although it undeniably feels a little stingy to only show two paintings by the brilliant Helene Schjerfbeck, and to eat the other women with one painting each.
Tough conditions. There is no reason to believe that the female Finnish artists around the 1900th century had it any easier than the Norwegian ones. Beda Stjernschantz (1867–1910) is represented with the painting Irma. The following sad text can be read about her in the exhibition catalog: «In the years 1903–05 she lived in the USA. She covered part of the travel expenses by selling her own paintings at auction, and during her stay she made a living as a nanny and governess. After she returned to her homeland, economic worries, deteriorating health and an ever-deepening melancholy drove Stjernschantz to suicide in 1910. "
Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946) did not have an easy life either. Again a quote from the exhibition catalog: "As a young woman she had tried her hand at history painting, which at the time was considered too demanding for women."
In Helsinki, the exhibition "The Magical North" will be supplemented with two tapestries by the Norwegian sculptor Frida Hansen (1855–1931). It undeniably helps with the skewed gender distribution on the Norwegian side. But the female painters who worked at this time do not get to meet the art-interested audience in Finland. Not this time either.
Tinholt is a playwright.
