Helene Schjerfbeck Retrospective at Met Examines Nordic Realism and Sentimentality
A retrospective of Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck is currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition explores her career within the context of the Nordic Breakthrough, a late 19th and early 20th century movement where artists from Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark moved toward modernism. Schjerfbeck, who lived from 1862 to 1946, achieved financial stability and recognition late in life, including being the first female artist featured in a self-portrait at the Finnish Art Society. The show contrasts her early Realist works, often labeled as sentimental, with her later abstract tendencies. This exhibition is part of a recent trend of retrospectives for Nordic Realist artists like Anna Ancher and Christian Krohg in major European institutions.
Key facts
- Helene Schjerfbeck retrospective is currently presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Schjerfbeck was a Finnish painter associated with the Nordic Breakthrough modernist movement.
- The exhibition highlights the tension between her Realist, sentimental early works and her later abstract style.
- Recent years have seen multiple retrospectives for Nordic Realist artists in London, Paris, and Vienna.
- Schjerfbeck gained financial security and institutional recognition in her later years, notably in 1937.
Entities
Artists
- Helene Schjerfbeck
- Anna Ancher
- Christian Krohg
- Harriet Backer
- Bruno Liljefors
- Akseli Gallen-Kallela
- Edvard Munch
- Hilma af Klint
Institutions
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Finnish Art Society
- Dulwich Picture Gallery
- Musée d'Orsay
- Petit Palais
- Belvedere
Locations
- New York
- Finland
- Paris
- London
- Vienna
- Stockholm
- Helsinki
- New York City
- Nordic countries