Vilho Lampi
Vilho Henrik Lampi (born July 19, 1898 in Oulu ; † March 17, 1936 there ) was a Finnish painter . He is best known for his self-portraits and his pictures of Liminka and the people who live there.
Life
Lampi was born in Oulu in Northern Finland as the eldest son of Maria and Anton Lampi. When he was eleven, the family moved to Liminka, where his father had bought a farm. From 1921 to 1925 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts ( Taideyliopiston Kuvataideakatemia ) in Helsinki . After graduation, he returned to Liminka to work on the farm, but also to continue painting. He usually only found time to do this after his work on the farm was done. Throughout his life he was torn between these two activities. He conscientiously fulfilled his work on the farm, but apparently also longed for recognition as an artist. It is reported that his time in Helsinki was self-confident, but also solitary. For example, he often wore the traditional clothing of the eastern robotic plains, including a knife. In Liminka he was evidently a colorful personality due to his artistic activity, but who got along well with people.
After taking part in several group exhibitions since his studies, his first and only solo exhibition took place in Oulu in January and February 1931. Almost half of the 53 paintings on display were sold. This allowed him to visit Paris from March to May 1931, where he lived and worked in the bohemian Montparnasse district . During the trip he also visited museums in Berlin and Brussels. In 1933 and 1934 he received a number of grants that enabled him to paint full-time. His works have also been exhibited abroad, for example in Latvia, Germany and the Soviet Union. Lampi died of suicide on March 17, 1936 . He traveled to Oulu to meet several artist friends there. But he did not reach anyone and jumped from a bridge into the Oulujoki . His body was not found until May 5, after the ice melted.
style
Lampi is considered a painter, who in his pictures above all set a monument to his home region, the flat eastern robotic landscape. Although he lived only a few kilometers from the Baltic Sea, the sea does not appear as a motif in his pictures. The focus is on landscape paintings and portraits. Lampi himself had no children, but he portrayed the children of his siblings. For practice purposes he painted still lifes, and there too he chose typical motifs from agriculture. For example, while other artists often use fruit in still lifes, Lampi opts for the potato.
During his Helsinki years 1921–1925, he mainly painted in the Impressionist style. The years 1929 to 1931 are known as his heroic style phase. During this phase he painted large-format, expressive works with rough brushstrokes. These pictures are encrypted self-portraits in which he can be seen alone or with others in an expressive role (Der Henker 1930, Der Kaiser der Gemeinde 1930, Die Schwarzbrenner 1930). For example, he is the man with the pipe in the center of the picture "Die Schwarzbrenner". In his short, only 14-year career, he also experimented with Expressionism and New Objectivity .
It remains an open question to this day why his style became more traditional again after 1931. The landscapes become more naturalistic. This becomes clear, for example, when comparing two pictures of bridges in Liminka. While the painting "Maisema" from 1923 is reduced expressionist, in 1935 he paints a bridge in a much older, pointillist and naturalistic style. One possible explanation for this stylistic reversal is a possible frustration with the response that his more modern works found in the Liminka province.
After his death, Lampi was forgotten for several decades. It was not rediscovered until the 1950s. Since then he has been considered one of the most important Finnish artists of the 1930s. The Helsinki Art Museum honored him in 2020 with an extensive retrospective.
literature
- Unto Immonen: Vilho Lampi, lakeuden melankoolikko in Suomen taiteen vuosikirja 1956–1957 , Porvoo, 1957.
- Paavo Rintala: Jumala on kauneus , (Novel about Vilho Lampi) Otava, 1959.
- Eeli Aalto: Vilho Lampi, lakeuden maalari: esittelyä ja taustaa , Arvi A. Karisto, Hämeenlinna, 1967.
- Marja Junttila et al .: Vilho Lampi 1898-1936 , ARS Nordica & Kustannus Pohjoinen, 1998
Movies
- Eeli Aalto: Vilho Lampi, Lakeuden maalari , 1966.
- Hannu Heikinheimo: Jumala on kauneus , 1985.
Plays
- Kaija Viinikainen: Jumala on kauneus , Kajaanin kaupunginteatteri, 1981.
- Kristian Smeds: Jumala on kauneus , Teatteri Takomo, 2000 and Finnish National Theater , 2008.
- Taisto Reimaluoto: Tässä on elämä , Kajaanin Runoviikko, 2001.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c biography Vilho Lampi (Finnish) Kunstmuseum Oulu, accessed November 10, 2017
- ↑ https://www.hamhelsinki.fi/en/exhibition/vilho-lampi/ Helsinki Art Museum HAM, accessed on February 19, 2020.
- ↑ As reported by his brother in the TV documentary "I don't go to the Ateneum (art school) anymore", https://areena.yle.fi/1-50156251 , accessed on February 22, 2020.
- ↑ a b Vilho Lampi, Lakeuden maalari (Finnish) in: kirjastovirma, accessed November 10, 2017
- ↑ https://www.hamhelsinki.fi/en/exhibition/vilho-lampi/ Helsinki Art Museum HAM, accessed on February 19, 2020.
- ↑ Oral information during a guided tour of the Helsinki Art Museum HAM on February 22, 2020.
- ↑ https://www.hamhelsinki.fi/en/exhibition/vilho-lampi/ Helsinki Art Museum HAM, accessed on February 19, 2020.
Web links
- Biography , Oulu Art Museum (Finnish)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lampi, Vilho |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lampi, Vilho Henrik (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Finnish impressionism painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 19, 1898 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Oulu |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 17, 1936 |
| Place of death | Oulu |