Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt was a Finnish painter noted for his naturalistic style and Realist approach to art. He lived in the Grand Duchy of Finland and made Finnish culture visible abroad, before Finland gained full independence. He was considered the greatest Finnish artist of the second half of 19th - the first half of 20th centuries, and one of the most prominent contributors to the Golden Age of Finnish Art.
Self-portrait, c. 1887–1890
Duke Charles IX of Sweden insulting the corpse of his enemy, Klaus Fleming (1878)
Blanche of Namur, Queen of Sweden, and Prince Haquin (1877)
The Burnt Village – scene from the Finnish Peasant Revolt of 1596 (1879)
Golden Age of Finnish Art
The Golden Age of Finnish Art coincided with the national awakening of Finland, during the era of the Grand Duchy of Finland under the Russian Empire. It is believed to span an era from the late 19th Century to the early 20th Century, approximately 1880 to 1910. The epic poetry form known as Kalevala, developed during the 19th Century, provided the artistic inspiration for numerous themes at the time, including in visual arts, literature, music and architecture; however, the "Golden Age of Finnish Art" is generally regarded as referring to the realist and romantic nationalist painters of the time. Notable figures of the time include Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Pekka Halonen, Albert Edelfelt, Jean Sibelius, Eino Leino, Helene Schjerfbeck, Emil Wikström, Eero Järnefelt and Eliel Saarinen.
Väinämöinen fight against Louhi about Sampo. Akseli Gallen-Kallela's The Defense of the Sampo, 1896.
The Finnish Pavilion at the Paris 1900 Expedition by Gesellius, Lindgren, Saarinen (fi)
Problem (Symposium) depicting Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Oskar Merikanto, Robert Kajanus and Jean Sibelius, painted by Gallen-Kallela himself, 1894
Ironesses, Helena Westermarck, 1883