WHY SO MANY WOMEN IN THE 19th CENTURY FINNISH ART AND WHO WERE THEY?
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ETHOS: EXHIBITIONS, ART SCHOOLS AND ORGANIZATIONS
 In the first part of the 19th Century as there was no art training, museums nor art critics in
Finland
 The Turku Drawing School was founded in 1830. It was the first institution in Finland to
provide academic instruction in fine arts
The Finnish Art Association
 The Finnish Art Association was founded in 1846
 It opened the Helsinki Drawing School in 1848. In 1852 it took control over the Turku Drawing
School
 The Finnish Art Association organized exhibitions and provided scholarships. It also started a
public art collection based on the donation of O. W. Klinckowstöm's collection of 28 paintings
by Alexander II of Russia in 1851
 Women were welcomed to the Art Association's schools in Helsinki and Turku from the very
beginning. One of the reasons was that the schools didn’t use nude models and the teaching
focused on drawing. To get training in oil painting you needed to go elsewhere, that is abroad
Ducat Prizes, Scholarships and Travel Grants
 The Art Association enabled studies abroad by giving so-called ducat prizes (from 1858),
scholarships and travel grants for the artists.
 During the first five years most of the ducat prices went to women. For example by the year
1890 women had won approximately half of the 80 prizes The Finnish Art Association had
awarded!
 One of the biggest scholarships was the "Hoving scholarship", established by Victor Hoving, a
businessman and patron of arts from the city of Vyborg.
 The state (the senate) started awarding grants in 1863
The Artists' Association of Finland
 The Artists' Association of Finland was founded in 1864. Two years later (1866) it opened its
doors to female members
The Becker Academy
 In 1872 artist Adolf von Becker established a private art school in Helsinki. The teaching was
formulated according to private academies in France where Becker had studied and worked. In
the Group arranged for women it was possible to get training in oil painting
COMMERCIAL AND URBAN EXPANSION
 In the late 19th Century Finnish economy was growing. As a Grand Duchy of the Imperial
Russia, Finland had access to the Russian market and the trade of timber with the Western
countries increased
 Despite the development of the urban proletariat, the turn of the Century was a prosperous
time. There was money to encourage the arts and the state as well as the urban bourgeoisie
supported the arts
 At the turn of the 20th Century travelling became easier and faster. The railway network
expanded, electric and diesel locomotives replaced steam ones and steam boats were fitted
with diesel engines. Later cars and aeroplanes made travelling even quicker. Yet, it was not
until the 1950s that contacts of Finnish artists with artistic centres abroad increased
considerably
WHERE DID THEY STUDY?
 At the beginning of the 19th Century, Rome was the leading city of art in Europe. At this point
female artists were very few in Finland. The art world was still unorganized. Training was
available either in Stockholm or St Petersburg, the capital of the country where only a few
artists chose to travel. Some continued from Stockholm to Copenhagen
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The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts was primarily for men until 1864. Women had to take
private lessons from male artists until 1864 when a department for women was established
Only the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg accepted female students in the 19th Century. Yet
only a few Finnish artists chose to study in Russia despite the fact that St Petersburg was the
capital city of the country – including the Autonomous Grand Duchy
In the middle of the 19th Century, the most popular place to study was Düsseldorf. (f.ex. Fanny
Churberg). Also Dresden, Düsseldorf or Munich were chosen as a destination for artistic quest
From the 1860s onwards artists started to head to Paris and in the 1880s Paris was The Place
to be in. Yet The École des Beaux-Arts in Paris did not accept any foreign students until 1897
and most art academies only started opening their doors to female students in the 20th
Century. Artists from all over the world became interested not only in the city of Paris but also
in the seaside regions, Brittany, Normandy and Southern France. (f.ex. Helene Schjerfbeck,
Maria Wiik, Elin Danielson-Gambogi, Amélie Lundahl, Venny Soldan-Brofeldt)
Also London and the south coast of England, St. Ives attracted some of the artists (f.ex. Helene
Schjerfbeck)
During the 1890s Venice, Florence and Rome became popular (f.ex. Elin Danielson-Gambogi,
Ellen Thesleff). The journey led usually via Venice and Milan to Florence, Rome and Naples.
After the unification of Germany in 1871, Berlin became one of Europe’s artistic centres. At the
turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries its decadent atmosphere attracted several Scandinavian
artists, mostly men.
It was not acceptable for young women to travel abroad alone in the 19th Century, so female
artists used to travel and live together accommodated by boarding houses or family friends
living abroad. Interaction between the Nordic artists was easy, because they were able to
communicate in Swedish.
Artists often spent their winters abroad, returning to Finland for the summer
WOMEN AND ART AS A PROFESSION?
 At the beginning of the 19th Century art was regarded as a suitable hobby but not at all a
serious profession for a woman. Most of their families were nobility which was natural as in
order to give an education to their daughters, a family needed to have money and an interest in
the arts
 From the mid-19th Century respect for the artistic career grew. Earlier a woman working as an
artist was usually regarded as an amateur.
 It was still common in the 1870s that many of the promising female talents did not complete
their training due to marriage, family or financial obstacles. From the 1880s onwards the
number of female artists in Finland started to increase considerably. Still either teaching or
arts and crafts provided a living for many of them (f.ex. porcelain painting Fanny SundbladLundahl).
 Finally at the turn of the Century, the position of female artist started to become more
independent.
ART OR MARRIAGE?
 Most women artists stayed unmarried, being an artist was not regarded as a suitable role for a
wife or a mother. Only few women continued painting after getting married and having
children. Some unmarried artists shared a household with their unmarried siblings
 In some respects Finland was an exception among western countries because of the
independent financial status safeguarded by the law for women of legal age (independence and
sovereignty of an unmarried woman in 1864, equal inheritance right to men and women alike
in 1878)
 Artist couples (many of them Finnish-Scandinavian) f.ex. Edla Jansson-Blommér and Nils Jakob
Blommér, Anna Glad and Werner Holmberg, Julia Stigzelius and César de Cock, Eva Topelius
and J.A.G. Acke Hilma Alander and Victor Westerholm, Elin Danielson-Gambogi and Raffaello
Gambogi, Antoinette Råström and Ville Vallgren, Eva Mannerheim-Sparre and Louis Sparre,
Venny Soldan-Brofeldt and Juhani Aho, Hilda Flodin and Juho Rissanen
Women in 19th Century Finnish Art (a selection of names)
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Edla Jansson-Blommér, 1817-1908
Victoria Åberg, 1824-1892
Elisabeth Blomqvist, 1827-1901
Ida Silfverberg, 1834-1899
Alexandra Frosterus-Såltin, 1837-1916
Victorine Nordenswan, 1838-1872
Fanny Churberg, 1845-1892
Amélie Lundahl, 1850-1914
Maria Wiik, 1853-1928
Nina Ahstedt, 1853-1907
Eva Topelius-Acke, 1855-1929
Helena Westermarck, 1857-1938
Anna Sahlstén, 1859-1931
Elin Danielson-Gambogi, 1861-1919
Hanna Rönnberg, 1862-1946
Helene Schjerfbeck, 1862-1946
Venny Soldan-Brofeldt, 1863-1945
Helmi Biese, 1867-1933
Beda Stjernschantz, 1867-1910
Hanna Frosterus-Segerstråle, 1867-1946
Ellen Thesleff, 1869-1954
Dora Wahlroos, 1870-1947
Eva Mannerheim-Sparre, 1870-1958
Maria Schwarzberg, 1873-1923
Women in 20th Century Finnish Art (a selection of names)
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Ester Helenius, 1875-1955
Sigrid Schauman, 1877-1979
Greta Hällfors-Sipilä, 1899-1974
Ina Colliander, 1905-1985
Elvi Maarni, 1907-2006
Eva Cederström, 1909-1995
Gunvor Grönvik, 1912-1955
Tove Jansson, 1914-2001
Anitra Lucander, 1918-2000
Elga Seseman, 1922-2007
Anita Snellman, 1924-2006
Outi Heiskanen, b. 1937
Ulla Rantanen, b. 1938
Marika Mäkelä, b. 1947
Leena Luostarinen, 1949-2013
Marjatta Tapiola, b. 1951
Maaria Wirkkala, b. 1954
Silja Rantanen, b. 1955
Ulla Jokisalo, b. 1955
Mari Rantanen, b. 1956
Nina Roos, b. 1956
Eija-Liisa Ahtila, b. 1959
Marianna Uutinen, b. 1961
Anu Tuominen, b. 1961
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Heli Rekula, b. 1963
Susanne Gottberg, b. 1964
Katja Tukiainen, b. 1969
Elina Brotherus, b. 1972
Iiu Susiraja, b. 1975
Stina Saaristo, b. 1976