Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865 - 1931)

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Akseli Gallen-Kallela, born Axel Waldemar Gallén, is a Finnish artist of Swedish descent.

He studied at the Académie Julian in Paris, traveled to Africa, and later designed flags, coats of arms and uniforms for the army of independent Finland.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela is a representative of Finnish National Romanticism and Northern Art Nouveau painting from 1880-1910. In his work he used symbolism and artistic techniques of Art Nouveau style. The unvarnished depiction of disease, suffering and social hardship was part of the naturalistic conception of art that Gallen-Kallela followed from the beginning of his career. He frequently painted the harshness of life, often with elements of Christian symbolism.