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The Finnish PainterPekka Halonen
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Pekka Halonen grew from humble beginnings to become one of Finland's most respected artists. |
He was born in 1865 to a peasant family who resided in Lapinlahti, Finland. Early on it was evident he had creative talent which enabled him to study at the Art Society Drawing School in Helsinki.
Eventually he moved to Paris and studied at the Académie Julian, later Paul Gauguin tutored the Finnish native.
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At the dawn of his career Romanticism had given way to Realism and this caught the young man's attention. His preferred subjects were studies of every day life, things he would have grown to know given his upbringing in a poor family: day laborers, farmers and washer women. |
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Then he began a fascination with the genre of landscape particularly the changes of the seasons he witnessed in Finland and it's impact upon the countryside. Winter and autumn were the times that drew his attention he rarely paid attention to summer via his canvases. He preferred to paint outdoors and scoffed at those that refused to do so despite the freezing temperatures of the winter months.
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Halonen had an atelier in Tuusula found in the south of Finland. He found tranquility in the low hills of the area. |
Finland's Ateneum Art Museum is home to an exhibit celebrating native son Pekka Halonen.
Pekka Halonen
Ateneum Art Museum:
March 7 – August 24, 2008