Welcome to this Sunday Matinée, which is part # 2 on Helene Schjerfbeck from Finland (part # 1 here). I do apologise for the afternoon publishing. It is my holidays, so I slept in and then idled about for too long. But I had to gather my lazy bones off the settee now, in order to honour this amazing woman. Crippled in her childhood, spotted for her talent in young years, studying all over Europe and earning a lot of recognition and almost fame in her younger years, Helene taught art and drawing in Helsinki. But she fell ill and retreated to a village with a good sanatorium, all the while looking after her ageing Mom.

And there, in the remoteness of the country, the most amazing transition took place. While being entirely cut off from the sophisticated art world, Helene Schjerfbeck developed her own, very modern painting style. She portraied herself, her mother and some country girls for lack of other models. Have a look, how this impressive woman took art to a point of ethereal, that is almost sci-fi. Well, I am most impressed. Best compare last weeks paintings from her younger years and compare them to this. What got me most, is the change in the view, she had of her own face over time (at the bottom of this post).

SELF PORTRAITS