Meditations on Gallery 964

 

Helene Schjerfbeck is a Finnish artist who worked in the early twentieth century.  Gallery 964 in the Lehman Wing of the museum is used for rotating exhibits and it appears that all of the art work on view has been loaned to the Met.  They do not appear to own any of her work which is an indication of how works by women were so often ignored by the Met and the larger art world until recently.  These works which are mostly portraits of unnamed people going about their everyday tasks.  They have a delicacy and great attention to detail.  I was especially struck by the one above which exudes a calm feeling, the unnamed woman gazing at an unknown point with a light source somewhat undefined abut that suffuses the painting.  Although she studied in Paris and showed at some Salon shows there she has been little known outside of Finland where she is considered a major artist.  Hopefully this Met exhibit will bring her a larger audience.