Maria Catharina Wiik (3 August 1853 – 19 June 1928) was a
Finnish painter. She worked principally with still life,
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
images, landscape paintings and portraits.
Biography
Wiik was born in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
. She was the daughter of architect Erik Johan Wik (or Wiik) (1804–1876) and his wife Gustava Fredrika Meyer. She was born and grew up in Brunnsparken and attended the Swedish language school
Svenska fruntimmersskolan in
Helsingfors
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
. She then studied drawing with art professor
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. ...
.
Encouraged by her family, she studied art during 1874–1875 at the
Academy of Fine Arts in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
.
In 1875, she continued her art studies in Paris under
Tony Robert-Fleury at the
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...
, one of the few private schools accepting women at the time.
From 1875 and in 1880 she became a substitute teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts of Helsinki. Her early paintings accepted for the
Paris Salon
The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...
in 1880 were portraits. In 1881, she painted a series of small paintings with a more psychological atmosphere including minute details. In spring 1889, she returned to Paris with her friend, the painter
Helene Schjerfbeck to work among others with
Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his mural painting, who came to be known as "the painter for France". He became the co-founder and president of the Société Nationale des Beau ...
. In 1883–1884, they painted in England and then in 1889 at
St Ives in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
.
Her painting ''
Out into the World'' won a bronze medal at the
Exposition Universelle (1900)
The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...
and was included in the 1905 book ''
Women Painters of the World'' by
Walter Shaw Sparrow
Walter Shaw Sparrow (1862–1940) was a Welsh writer on art and architecture, with a special interest in British sporting artists. He wrote a series of books on art, architecture and furniture.
Biography Childhood
Sparrow was born in 1862, th ...
.
Women painters of the world, from the time of Caterina Vigri, 1413-1463, to Rosa Bonheur and the present day
', by Walter Shaw Sparrow, The Art and Life Library, Hodder & Stoughton, 27 Paternoster Row, London, 1905
Her last trip to Paris took place in 1905. The rest of her life she spent in Helsinki. Her vision deteriorated, and in 1925 she underwent an eye surgery. Wiik died in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
in 1928.
Works
See also
*
Golden Age of Finnish Art
The Golden Age of Finnish Art coincided with the national awakening of Finland, during the era of the Grand Duchy of Finland under the Russian Empire. It is believed to span an era from the late 19th Century to the early 20th Century, approximate ...
*
Finnish art
Finnish art started to form its individual characteristics in the 19th century, when romantic nationalism began to rise in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland.
Prehistoric art
Marks of human activity in Finland has found in Susiluola, Kristi ...
References
External links
Maria Wiikat the
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...
website
Maria Wiikon
artnet
Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City, in the United States, and is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly traded company based in Berlin that is listed on t ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiik, Maria
1853 births
1928 deaths
Artists from Helsinki
19th-century Finnish painters
20th-century Finnish painters
19th-century Finnish women artists
20th-century Finnish women artists
Finnish women painters