Helene Schjerfbeck


 Fascinating exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the life and work of the Finnish artist Helene Schjerfbeck.

Schjerbeck made an extraordinary artistic journey from an Impressionist style, via Cubism to an abstract expressionism. One friend described her as if Gwen John and been taught by Munch! To show this I’ve used two pictures from a wonderful room of self-portraits during which he face gradually dissolves and she takes a very honest view of aging.

Some of the early works were delightful from Chicken Amongst Corn Stacks from 1887 through some lovely late Victorian style portraits painted with loose brush strokes. The last room was her post 1909 portraits which experimented with colour and tone alongside abstracted still lives which experimented with space and tone.

Throughout the show I had a sense of her friendships and a life dominated by art. I was fascinated by a period when the Finnish Art Society commissioned her to travel to St Petersburg to make copies of pictures in the Hermitage for the society’s collection. Although not her artistic vision it was interesting to see her learn through this process.

As I came out and was gazing at the menu in the café I got chatting to a lady. When I asked what she had come to see today she looked wistful and said “I’ve come to see Helen again”. The show seems to have had the effect on people of engaging with the person and seeing their humanity not just looking at rooms of pictures.


Closes 27 October 2019

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