Lennart Rafael Segerstråle (17 June 1892 – 11 April 1975) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish painter and graphic artist. He was best known for his murals and

frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

Biography

Lennart Rafael Segerstråle was born in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Rural Municipality, now

Vantaa Vantaa (; , ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropoli ...

, on the outskirts of Helsinki. He is the second child of Knut Albert Segerstråle, a theologian and teacher at the Borgå High School in

Porvoo Porvoo (; ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located on the south coast of the country, on the Gulf of Finland. Porvoo lies in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Porvoo is approximately , while the Porvoo sub-region, sub-re ...

and Hanna Frosterus-Segerstråle,

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. His younger sister, Solveig von Schoultz (1907–1996) became known as a poet and author of news and children's books. Lennart Segerstråle first attended the Fine Arts at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

, where he studied under the direction of painter and art professor

Eero Järnefelt 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, in the North Karelia region of Finland. He wa ...

(1863–1937). From 1919 he devoted himself exclusively to art, especially painting. He began to make himself known by the quality of his images and animal motifs. In the 1920s and 1930s he became the most famous animal painter in Finland. Its aim is to represent a harmonious combination of animals, birds and landscapes. Proceeding in his artistic career Segerstråle developed an increased interests in monumental art, he also produced several stained-glass windows for churches both in Finland and Sweden. In 1929 he perfected his studies in frescoes and mosaic art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, under the direction of

Joakim Skovgaard Joakim Frederik Skovgaard (18 November 1856 – 9 March 1933) was a Danish painter. He is remembered above all for the frescos which decorate Viborg Cathedral. Biography Born in Copenhagen, from an early age he was trained in drawing and paintin ...

(1856–1933) one of the most influential Danish artist of his times. Segerstråle worked also with Skovgaard as his assistant in 1927 for the creation of the mosaic in the apse of the Cathedral of Lund. This new orientation of his artistic life is strongly underpinned by his Christian and humanist convictions, which lead him later to concentrate on monumental art and religious themes. Segerstråle painted several altarpieces and realized stained glass windows in the churches of Finland and Sweden. Among his most notable "secular" works it is worth to remember ''Finlandiafreskerna'', the frescoes of the headquarters of the

Bank of Finland The Bank of Finland (, ) is the national central bank for Finland within the Eurosystem. It was the Finnish central bank from 1865 to 1998, issuing the markka. It views itself as the fourth oldest surviving central bank in the world, after Swed ...

in Helsinki, which he realized in 1943 and is considered his main masterpiece. In 1959, he created ''Vid livets källa'' (1959), a fresco in the dining room of the Caux Palace Hotel in

Montreux, Switzerland Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut district in the canton of Vaud, having a population of approximately 26,500, with about 85,00 ...

, as part of his engagement with the international humanist movement ''Moral Re-Armament'' (now known as

Initiatives of Change Initiatives of Change (IofC) is a global organisation dedicated to "building trust across the world's divides" of culture, nationality, belief, and background. Initiatives of Change was known as Moral Re-Armament (MRA) from 1938 to 2001, and the ...

), a commitment to which the artist explained in a text published in 1967 ("Why Moral Re-Armament"). Segerstråle exhibited regularly in

from 1913 to 1967, as well as abroad. He was a member of the Honorary Committee of the International Cultural Center of Royaumont, in Val-d'Oise,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He died at

Kauniainen Kauniainen (; ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Kauniainen is situated in the southern part of the Uusimaa region, and it is Enclave and exclave, enclaved by the City of Espoo. The population of Kauniainen ...

in suburban Helsinki, Finland.

Selected works

Kristuskyrkan Kristuskyrkan (Church of Christ) is a Christian church in Helsinki, Finland, located in the central district of Etu-Töölö (Swedish: ) at the corner between Fänrik Ståls Street and Apollonkatu Street. It was built at the beginning of the twe ...

(Christ Church),

. "Skapelsens lovsång" ("Praise to Creation"),

stained glass window Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

on the tower bell, 1928. * Reposaari Church, fresco on the arch vault. * Art Museum Serlachius Gustaf and Gösta (Manor of Joenniemi), plafond of the library, Mänttä-Vilppula, 1935 * Finlandia, frescoes, Bank of Finland,

. 1943–1944 *

Rovaniemi Church The Rovaniemi Mother Church () is a church located in the city center of Rovaniemi in Lapland, Finland. The 850-seat church, designed by architect Bertel Liljequist, was completed in 1950. The earlier church building, completed in 1817, was burn ...

, "Livets källa" altar mural, 1951 * Varkaus Church, Apse fresco, 1952–1953 * Uppståndelse (Ascension), Chapel painting, 1954, ''Själevad'' in Sverige * Paradisfåglarna (Paradise Birds), painting, 1967, Town Hall Wedding Room, ''

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

'', Sweden * Det nya världshjärtat 'The New World Heart', 1973, painting in a

Dunchurch Dunchurch is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Rugby, approximately south-west of central Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby in Warwickshire, England. The civil parish, which also includes the nearby hamlet of Toft, Warwickshire, Toft, had ...

school in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, UK * ''Taggtråd eller försoning'' (Reconciliation), painting, 1973 at

Westminster Theatre The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster. History The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter Ri ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK

Bibliography

*''Tusch: Djurbilder med text af Lennart Segerstråle'', Holger Schildts förlag, Borg, (1916) *''Vildmarkssyner'', H.Schildt, Helsinki, (1924) *''Kultur och kristendom'' (Culture and Christianity), Wahlström & Widstrand, (1943) *''Finlandiafreskernas år: Bilder av ett folk i kamp'' (Finnish Frescoes), Lindfors, Stockholm (1944)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Segerstrale, Lennart 1892 births 1975 deaths University of Helsinki alumni Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni People from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns 20th-century Finnish painters Fresco painters Finnish muralists Swedish muralists Finnish male painters 20th-century Finnish male artists