Erik "Eero" Nikolai Järnefelt (8 November 1863 – 15 November 1937) was a Finnish painter and art professor. He is best known for his portraits and landscapes of the area around

Koli National Park Koli National Park ( fi, Kolin kansallispuisto) is a national park in the municipalities of Joensuu, Lieksa and Kontiolahti in the North Karelia region of Finland. It covers of forested hills on the western shore of Lake Pielinen. The park wa ...

. He was a medal winner at the Paris ''Exposition Universelle'' of 1889 and

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

, and he taught art at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

and was chairman of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts.

Biography

He was the son of General Alexander Järnefelt and Baroness Elisabeth Järnefelt (née Clodt von Jürgensburg). He came from a Swedish-speaking Finnophile family of artists, writers and composers descended from the Baltic aristocracy. Several of his eight siblings also became well-known: (a literary critic), Arvid (a judge and writer), Armas (a composer and conductor) and Aino (wife of

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

).Brief biography
@ Kansallisbiografia. Eero Järnefelt by Gallen-Kallela

After graduating from a private academy, he studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki The Academy of Fine Arts ( fi, Kuvataideakatemia; sv, Bildkonstakademin) in Helsinki, Finland is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and provides the highest university-level theoretical and practical training in the country in fine arts ...

from 1874 to 1878, the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the T ...

from 1883 to 1886 (where one of his teachers was his uncle, Mikhail Clodt), and the Académie Julian in Paris from 1886 to 1888, where he studied with

Tony Robert-Fleury Tony Robert-Fleury (1 September 18378 December 1911) was a French painter, known primarily for historical scenes. He was also a prominent art teacher, with many famous artists among his students. Biography He was born just outside Paris, and st ...

. A major influence was the Naturalism of

Jules Bastien-Lepage Jules Bastien-Lepage (1 November 1848 – 10 December 1884) was a French painter closely associated with the beginning of naturalism, an artistic style that emerged from the later phase of the Realist movement. His most famous work is his lan ...

. In 1889, he married the actress . In 1892, he made his first trip to the area around Koli with Juhani Aho and his wife, the painter

Venny Soldan-Brofeldt Wendla Irene Soldan-Brofeldt, known as Venny (2 November 1863, Helsinki – 10 October 1945, Lohja) was a Finnish painter, illustrator, graphic artist, wood sculptor and jewelry designer. She belonged to the Swedish speaking population of Finland ...

. He was impressed with the scenery there and would continue to visit regularly until 1936. Later, he made several study trips; to Italy in 1894 and

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

in 1899. That same year, he helped organize an international exhibition in Saint Petersburg, sponsored by ''

Mir Iskusstva ''Mir iskusstva'' ( rus, «Мир искусства», p=ˈmʲir ɪˈskustvə, ''World of Art'') was a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it inspired and embodied, which was a major influence on the Russians who helped revolutionize Eur ...

''. In 1901, he built a home that he named "Suviranta" (Summer Beach) at the artists' colony near Lake Tuusula, designed by Usko Nyström. He lived there only until 1917, when he moved to Helsinki, but it is still owned and used by his family.Suviranta
@ Ainola. Järnefelt selfportrait

From 1902 to 1928, he taught drawing at the University of Helsinki. He was appointed professor there in 1912 and served as chairman of the "Finnish Academy of Fine Arts". His last major work was an altarpiece for the church in

Raahe Raahe (; sv, Brahestad; ) is a town and municipality of Finland. Founded by Swedish statesman and Governor General of Finland Count Per Brahe the Younger in 1649, it is one of 10 historic wooden towns (or town centers) remaining in Finland. Exam ...

, completed in 1926. A major retrospective was held in 2013, which included several previously unknown works.

Selected paintings

Notes

References

External links

Arcadja Auctions: More works by Järnefelt

Finnish 10 Euro Coin (2013) honoring Eero Järnefelt
@ the Mint of Finland
Europeana
blog, from January 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarnefelt, Eero 1863 births 1937 deaths Artists from Vyborg People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish people of German descent 19th-century Finnish nobility Finnish realist painters 19th-century Finnish painters 20th-century Finnish painters

Biography

Selected paintings

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links