Musée No:583.161
Regular price £25.00Portrait Study of Countess Augusta Lewenhaupt
Artist: Albert Edelfelt
Date : 1887
Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt (1854-1905) was one of the first Finnish artists to achieve international fame. He is known for his naturalistic and realist style of art with an eclectic wealth of subjects. He enjoyed considerable success in Paris, including a gold medal at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889. He focused on history painting at the beginning of his career. He also painted portraits of many famous people, including his friend Louis Pasteur, Aino Ackté, and the Russian imperial family. The painting of Louis Pasteur won him the Legion of Honour in 1886 at the exhibition at the Paris Salon. Portrait painting provided the major part of his income and in 1878 (quoting Belgian artist Wiertz) he wrote "Portraits for the soup, paintings for the glory".
In Finland, he was one of the founders of the Realist art movement. He influenced several younger Finnish painters in Antwerp and Paris, where he learned the practice of En Plein Air documenting contemporary reality rather than historical scenes was popular at the time. He focused on naturalism and his paintings showed off the Finnish countryside and lifestyle. In 2013, Boys Playing on the Shore (1884) was selected as Finland's most significant painting.
The Sitter : Augusta Lewenhaupt (1851–1939) was a Swedish court official, a senior lady-in-waiting to the queen of Sweden, Victoria of Baden, from 1908 to 1938. She married Minister for Foreign Affairs count Carl Lewenhaupt in 1874 and accompanied him on his diplomatic posts in London and Paris before he became minister of foreign affairs. She was described as talented, witty and entertaining.