Finnish painter Rafael Wardi's color-drenched retrospective at Ateneum highlights six-decade career

Rafael Wardi, a Finnish painter born in 1928, is known for his vibrant yellows and evocative interpretations of light, illustrating suspended figures, landscapes, and objects. His retrospective at the Ateneum Art Museum, part of the Finnish National Gallery, ran from December 12, 2013, to February 3, 2014, highlighting six decades of his artistic journey from abstraction to figurative art. Inspired by the works of Frank Auerbach and J.M.W. Turner, Wardi started incorporating pastels in the 1990s while portraying his wife during her battle with Alzheimer's. Residing on an island close to Helsinki, he is set to showcase new pieces at Konstsalongen Backsbacka in April 2014 and will have an exhibition at Edsvik Konsthall in Stockholm in 2015. His use of color resonates with the Finnish design brand Marimekko, established in 1951.