Even though Akseli Gallen-Kallela is best known for his Kalevala themes, is oeuvre includes a variety of different styles and he developed his visual language throughout his career. Even as a child Gallen-Kallela dreamed of travelling to Africa and in 1909 he finally had the opportunity to make this dream come true.

In the years 1909-1911 the Gallen-Kallela family lived in what was then the British colony of Kenya, near the capital Nairobi. Africa became a dear place for the entire family, “A kind of Heaven on Earth for all of us”, as Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s daughter Kirsi described it on a radio show in 1955. “The same happened to me as happens to everyone who makes an effort to get to know Arica – I was spellbound by it”, wrote Akseli Gallen-Kallela in his Africa-book, published posthumously in 1931.

The African nature and culture had a strong impact on Gallen-Kallela’s style, which changed dramatically during the trip. The colour palette changed and became stronger, and more intense as the artist experimented with the expressionistic style of painting. Gallen-Kallela also went on several safaris, alone, with his entire family and with his son. The family had several locals working for them and, unlike most people at the time, the family treated the Kikuju and Masaai as humans and individuals. Gallen-Kallela painted postraits of them and called them “nature children” and deemed their aesthetics as highly developed.

The two paintings in the auction, “Burial” and “A Maasai watching” both participated in La Biennale di Venezia in 1914. After to the outbreak of World War I the paintings could not be transported back to Finland, so an American gentleman offered to take them to San Fransisco for another exhibition. He also brought several other paintings by Gallen-Kallela to America, some of them very personal. During the exhibition in San Fransisco the paintings were sold but Gallen-Kallela, who in the meantime had returned to Finland, never saw the money. The paintings come to the current auction from the family who bought them in San Fransisco in 1915. The paintings have finally returned to Finland, as did Akseli Gallen-Kallela in 1911: “My mind was longing for the familiar constellations in the Northern sky. When my eyes gazed downward, on the dark ground, I knew: straight through the Earth, on the other side, is a small, unfortunate and eternally dear country to which my heart will not stop yearning.” (Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Afrikka, 1931)

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ART & ANTIQUES HELSINKI
Viewing 6th-11th December
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Iso Roobertinkatu 12, Helsinki