Anna Sofia Sahlstén (22 September 1859,
Iisalmi – 21 August 1931,
Helsinki) was a Finnish painter; primarily known for portraits and
genre scenes.
Biography
Her father, Clas Vilhelm Sahlstén (1826–1897), was a who later became a writer. Her mother was Edla Elisabeth Heinricius. When she was eight, her family moved to Helsinki, where she attended a Swedish girls' school; receiving her certificate in 1877. She then studied at the
Finnish Society Drawing School from 1877 to 1880, then at a private school operated by
Adolf von Becker
Adolf von Becker (14 August 1831 – 23 August 1909) was a Finnish genre painter and art professor of German descent. He was one of the first Finnish artists to study in Paris, who taught many of the young artists of the Golden Age of Finnish Art. ...
, from 1880 to 1882.
She went to Paris in 1884, where she studied at the
Académie Colarossi
The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...
, from 1884 to 1885 and after getting a new stipend again in 1889–1890. Her teachers there included
Gustave-Claude-Etienne Courtois,
Paul-Louis Delance
Paul-Louis Delance (1848–1924) was a French painter and educator. He is known for his allegorical and genre scene paintings early in his career, and his religious, and landscape paintings later in his career.
Early life and education
Paul-L ...
and
Jean-André Rixens. During a study trip in 1896, she visited
Berlin and
St. Petersburg.
She began teaching at the age of twenty-one and worked as a secondary school drawing teacher from 1882 to 1926.
She co-founded the Finnish Teachers' Drawing Association in 1906 and acted its first president 1906–1926.
She also started the association's own magazine, ''Stylus''.
After she retired from teaching, she wrote a two-act for children called ''Paimen-Pertti ja prinsessa Priscilla''. She also developed a program to help children get food at school. In 1929, she worked on religious paintings at the church in
Leppävaara
Leppävaara ( sv, Alberga) is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. The Rantarata rail line and the Ring Road I, the busiest road in Finland, cross in Leppävaara, thus making it a major traffic hub in the Greater Helsinki region. The Sello Sh ...
.
Most of her works are folk scenes of people at work, in church or in their home. She later incorporated humorous elements into her work. Her paintings of coffee-drinking grandmothers have been used by the
Paulig company, on a brand of coffee named after her.
Selected works
See also
*
Golden Age of Finnish Art
*
Finnish art
References
* Termonen, Teuvo: ''Suomalaista postikorttitaidetta'' (Finnish Postcard Art), Vol.4, pg.109. Suomen Postikorttiyhdistys Apollo, 2006.
External links
More works by Sahlstén@ ArtNet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahlsten, Anna
1859 births
1931 deaths
People from Iisalmi
Académie Colarossi alumni
Genre painters
Finnish women painters
19th-century Finnish painters
20th-century Finnish painters
Painters from the Russian Empire