Jalmari Ruokokoski

Although most of the works by Jalmari Ruokokoski consist of landscapes and still-lifes, he is best known for his expressive portraits, mainly executed in the 1910s. According to given information this painting is of the circus artist Elvira Bono (1893-1973), who married Jalmari Ruokokoski in 1910, when she was only sixteen years old. Tyko Sallinen, another painter and a good friend of Ruokokoski, served as a wedding witness. Ruokokoski was thrilled by circus art and conducted many paintings with circus motifs, where Elvira stood model. Due to his drinking problem, poor economy and unpredictability, the couple separated already in 1913. The father of Elvira Bono was Italian and the mother Swedish. She was also known by the nick-names "Moppe" and "The rose of Lapland", while she settled in Rovaniemi later in her life.