VIENNA.- Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s art was shaped by a lifelong dialogue between Finnish and transnational sources of inspiration. The exhibition in the Orangery of the Lower Belvedere invites visitors to explore the fascinating interplays in Gallen-Kallela’s art as he engaged with the land and people of his native Finland, the Finnish national epic Kalevala, the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), and the Nordic landscape. Furthermore, the international dimension of his art is showcased by shining a spotlight on Gallen-Kallela‘s contributions to the Vienna Secession exhibitions of 1901/02 and 1904.

General Director Stella Rollig: Akseli Gallen-Kallela was part of the international network of the Vienna Secession and his work was admired by the avant-garde of “Vienna 1900.” This exhibition represents an in-depth rediscovery of Finland’s now most famous artist in the city of his early triumphs.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela was one of Nordic Modernism’s most important artists from the period around 1900. The artist moved between contrasting worlds—from the snowy forests and vast lakes of his native Finland to the bustling cities of Paris, London, Berlin, and Vienna. He found his subjects mainly in Finland’s nature, people, and myths. In so doing he was responding to an inner need as well as to an international trend that stemmed from movements seeking artistic realism and political independence, which found expression in Naturalism, Symbolism, and National Romanticism. Finland, an autonomous grand duchy under Russian rule from 1809 to 1917, was also striving for state sovereignty at the time and the Finnish population’s desire for complete political independence found expression in art. Through his paintings, prints, and designs for furniture and textiles, Gallen-Kallela created a visual image of Finland.

Curator Arnika Groenewald-Schmidt: Gallen-Kallela’s art played a significant role in the formation of a new Finnish identity in the period around 1900. But his works are also an expression of inner worlds and address universal themes like love and death—subjects that moved artists regardless of national borders. Surveying his main sources of inspiration—Finnish motifs, transmedia artworks, international exchange—the exhibition draws attention to this multifaceted character of his art.

This show features some sixty works including many of Gallen-Kallela’s masterpieces. Fourteen of the paintings on display were shown around the turn of the century in Vienna and met with popular acclaim. The artist’s cultural encounter with Vienna provides both the occasion and the chronological focus of the exhibition, which has been organized in collaboration with the Ateneum Art Museum, the Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki.