Musée No:583.164
Regular price £25.00Woman Ironing, Study for the Washerwomen
Artist: Albert Edelfelt
Date : 1888
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