Eila Vilhelmina Hiltunen (22 November 1922,

Sortavala Sortavala (russian: Сортавала; Finnish and krl, Sortavala; sv, Sordavala); till 1918 Serdobol (russian: Сердоболь) is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finnish bor ...

– 10 October 2003,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

) was a

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sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. She is most famous for the Sibelius Monument (1967). A statue by Hiltunen resembling a smaller version of the Sibelius Monument stands on the grounds of the

United Nations headquarters zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...

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Life

Hiltunen was born into a prosperous family in 1922. Her father invested in automobiles and her mother was a strong supporter of her only child. The family's prospects changed dramatically during the economic crash of 1929 and her father took to drink. He died in 1941 and it was her mother who brought her up. Hiltunen's artistic ambitions were empowered at the Finnish Art Academy where she won the prize for sculpture twice.Eila Hiltunen
at Eilahiltunen.net, Retrieved 20 March 2016 She married in 1944 and had children. She and her sometimes violent husband had a difficult relationship.NEW Book of cruel truths of the top artists of marriage
12 September 2012, MTV.fi, Retrieved 20 March 2016 She always used her birth name. Their marriage lasted 50 years until Otso Pietinen's death although they were not always together. Hiltunen is most famous for the Sibelius Monument which was constructed in 1967. The sculpture won a competition organised by the Sibelius Society following the composer's death in 1957. It is one of the most popular tourist sights in Helsinki. Although her abstract sculpture of pipes is now well regarded as an important Finnish landmark, its initial reception was controversial. The objection centred on the abstract design; and although the design looked like stylised organ pipes, it was known that the composer had created little music for organs. To address her critics' concern, she was required to add Sibelius's face beside the main sculpture. A sculpture by Hiltunen resembling a smaller Sibelius Monument stands in the grounds of the

. Hiltunen was awarded the Finland Prize in 2000. Her husband, Otso Pietinen, died in 1993, and Hiltunen died in 2003. In 2022, a major retrospective of Hiltunen's works was held at the

Didrichsen Art Museum Didrichsen Art Museum ( fi, Didrichsenin taidemuseo, sv, Didrichsens konstmuseum) is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland. History The art museum was founded by Marie-Louise and Gunnar Didrichsen, who asked Finnish architect Viljo Revell to build ...

in Helsinki to mark the 100th anniversary of her birth.

References

External links

Eilahiltunen.net

Catalogue for retrospective exhibition in 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiltunen, Eila 1922 births 2003 deaths People from Sortavala 20th-century Finnish sculptors 20th-century Finnish women artists Finnish women sculptors