Study Event : Helene Schjerfbeck 

Join tutor Clare Wilson at the Royal Academy of Arts London on Sunday 13 October 2019. 

We will be visiting the Helene Schjerfbeck exhibition – the first UK retrospective of this painter of extraordinary talent.

Highly regarded in Finland but less well known here, the show offers a survey of 70 paintings, including a series of emotive and quite mesmerising self portraits. The earliest of these is a sensitive portrayal of the artist at twenty two years of age, in a later work she is eighty two and depicted in just a few dark, angular lines.

The exhibition also includes Cezanne inspired still life studies, luminescent landscapes, and some delicate interiors she made while studying in St Ives, Cornwall. 

Her application of paint is rigorous – building up the surface, sanding back, reworking with brushes and palette knives. This gives the work a slightly restless quality, and an intensity that is emphasised by subtle tonal shifts and contrasts.

The exhibition visit provides an opportunity to view and reflect on the work of an important 19th/20th Century artist who really explored the possibilities of painting. 

Request a place by completing the form here.

Please note there is a £10 booking fee for this event.

Image Credits

Helene Schjerfbeck Self portrait 1912

Helene Schjerfbeck Still life with blackened apples 1944