Gunnar Berndtson

Gunnar Berndtson

Gunnar Fredrik Berndtson (born October 24, 1854 in Helsingfors , today Helsinki , † April 9, 1895 ibid) was a Finnish painter.

Life

His father was the journalist and writer Fredrik Berndtson (1820–1881), of Swedish origin, his mother Augusta Kristina, née de la Chapelle (1827–1899), whose ancestors also came from Sweden. His mother tongue was Swedish.

In 1869 he began his artistic studies at the drawing school of the Finnish Art Association and at the university, among others with Erik Johan Löfgren , in Helsinfors and studied at the Polytechnic Institute from 1872 to 1875 . In 1876 he decided to finally switch to art and went to Paris , where he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts . Until 1882 he studied with Jean-Léon Gérôme and Ernest Meissonier, among others, and joined an artist group around Albert Edelfelt , Julian Alden Weir and John Singer Sargent . In 1878 he participated for the first time in the exhibition of the salon with the painting chamber music , which was followed by others. From 1882 to 1883 he stayed in Egypt as a guest of the mining engineer Alphonse Delort de Gléon (1843–1899) and received numerous portraits from his French circle of friends. He also provided illustrations, including as a correspondent for the journal Le Monde illustré .

He returned to Finland and married Hedvig Olga Beatrice (Freiin von) Cronstedt (* 1865), but stayed in Paris again and again, where he continued to be successful in the exhibitions of his pictures in the salon. In 1889 he received the Finnish State Prize for Portrait Painting. From 1890 to 1892 he taught at the Art Academy in Helsingfors, where his students included Magnus Enckell and Ellen Thesleff (1869-1954).

Berndtson died in 1895 after a long illness and was buried in the Hietaniemi cemetery in Helsingfors.

Works (selection)

Influenced by the painting of his teachers, especially Meissoniers, and his friend Albert Edelfelt, Berndtson mainly created scenic compositions and portraits. Works can be found in the art museums of Hämeenlinna (Hämeenlinnan Taidemuseo), Helsinki (Ateneum Taidemuseo), Imatra (Imatran Taidemuseo), Mäntää (Gösta Serlachiuksen Taidesäätiön Museo), Tampere (Tampereen Taidemuseo) and Turku. (Turun Taidemuseo).

• Seated Italian , 18709 (art trade 2016)
• Chess player , Paris 1872; Fig .: Wennervirta (1934)
• Admired Beauty (Beundrad skönhet), 1880 (art trade 2003)
• Art connoisseur in the Louvre , Paris around 1880
• The Song of the Bride (Morsiamen laulu), 66 × 82.5 cm, 1881: (1912) Helsinki, Ateneum; Fig .: Hahm (1933), Tikkanen (1925)
• The Egyptian dancer Almée (Almée, egyptiläinen tanssijatar), 1883
• Arab Dyer Woman (Arabialaisia ​​värjäreitä), 1883
• Rest on the way to the fair , 84 × 117 cm, 1886: (1912) Helsinki, Ateneum; Fig .: Hahm (1933), Wennervirta (1934)
• At the toilet , 27.5 × 20.5 cm, 1889: (1912) Helsinki, Ateneum
• An old song (Vanha laulu), Rococo scene, 1889; Fig .: Wennervirta (1934)
• Family portrait of Bonin (von Bonin perhe), 1890; Fig .: Wennervirta (1934)
• His name , 1890
• Sommer (Kesä), 1893; Fig .: Wennervirta (1934)
• Yes - No (studio scene), 46 × 37.5 cm: (1912) Helsinki, Ateneum
• Girl's head , 18.5 × 14.5 cm: (1912) Helsinki, Ateneum
• Salmon fishing (Lohenkalastus), 43.8 × 32.5 cm: (1912) Helsinki, Ateneum; Fig .: Wennervirta (1934)
• Memory (muisto); Fig .: Wennervirta (1934)

Portraits:

• Portrait of a lady in black with pink roses , inscribed : G.Berndtson. / Paris 1875
• Portrait of a young woman in a white dress ,
• Self-portrait , 1877 (art trade 2000)
• Portrait of Gösta Philip Armfelt (1830-1880) , 1878
• Portrait of the painter Walter Magnus Runeberg , 1879; Illustration: Wennervirta 1934
• Portrait of the poet Zacharias Topelius , 69 × 55 cm, 1880: Helsinki, Suomen Kansallisgalleria / Helsinki Ateneum
• Portrait of the painter Albert Edelfelt , 1880
• Portrait of the painter Antonia Bonjean , 1881 (art trade 2000)
• Portrait of Aina Lille , 1883
• Self-portrait , miniature, diameter 11.2 cm, 1884: Helsinki, Ateneum
• Portrait of the dentist Professor Matti Äyräpää (1852-1928) , 1889
• Portrait of Eva Aminoffin Muotokuva , around 1895
• Portrait of the painter Eero Järnefelt , 42 × 36 cm: Helsinki, Ateneum (catalog ill. 1958)
• Hedwig Cronstedt as fiancée
• Portrait of Paul Sinebrychoff (1799-1883) : Kunsthandel (Bukowskis, Helsinki) 2002

literature

• Directory of the art collections in the Atheneum Helsingfors. Helsinki 1912.
• Johan Jacob Tikkanen: Modern Art in Finland. Helsinki 1925 (2 fig.).
• Johan Jakob Tikkanen: Berndtson, Gunnar Frederik . In: Ulrich Thieme , Felix Becker (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. tape 3 : Bassano – Bickham . Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1909, p. 452 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
• Konrad Hahm : Art in Finland. Berlin 1933 (2 ills.).
• Ludvig Wennervirta: Finland's Konsten. Helsinki 1934 (10 ills.).
• Ludvig Wennervirta: Suomen taidetta 1800-luvulaa. Porvoo 1934.
• Kuvataiteilijat. Suomen kuvataiteilijoiden henkilöhakemisto. Helsinki 1972.
• Berndt Arell, Christian Hoffman: Gunnar Berndtson, Salonkimaalari. Turun Taidemuseo, Pohjoinen 1998, ISBN 951-749-316-9 .
• Maria Vainio-Kurtakko: Idyll eller verklighet ?: Albert Edelfelt och Gunnar Berndtson i det moderna genombrottets ambivalens (Idyll or Reality?) Finska fornminnesförening, 2010, ISBN 951-9057-76-5 .

Web links

• Finlands Nationalgalleri - Konstsamlingar - Luonnoskirja, in: kokoelmat.fng.fi

Individual evidence

1. ^ Project Runeberg: Nordisk familjebok. Volume 3, Col. 44