Hugo Simberg (1873-1917)

Finnish artist

Hugo Simberg was born in 1873. He died in 1917. For him symbolism was the only way of expressing his own internal world. His artistic ambitions met with little understanding. The only one who believed in him and supported him was his master, the painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela. He encouraged him even when he was publicly humiliated by others. His autumn exhibition of 1898 became a turning point in his life. Finnish critics began to take Simberg seriously. Still in 1898 he was accepted as a member of the Artists' Association of Finland. But only after his death the real importance of his work was recognised.

Wounded Angel

On his painting 'Wounded Angel' solemn boys are carrying an angel who has hurt her wing. The angel, a young girl, is sitting on a stretcher. She has a bandage covering her eyes and in her hand she is holding a small wilted bunch of flowers. The group is set in a somewhat mystic empty plain with a lake in the background. A few years later Hugo Simberg reproduced this work as a fresco in a church in Tampere, but now with the industrial background of that town.

Garden of Death

His famous painting 'Garden of Death' (water colour and gouache) expresses Simberg's thoughts on death. In general the artist did nothing to make interpretation of his work easy, but in this case he wrote on some sketches that the Garden of Death depicts a place where the souls must go before they can enter Heaven, the purgatory. Also from this work the artist Hugo Simberg made a fresco in the same church the Wounded Angel was frescoed. Besides Hugo Simberg used the same motif in other works, such as woodcuts and etches.

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