- Eero Järnefelt
Eero Erik Nikolai Järnefelt (1863 - 1937) was a Finnish realist painter.
Eero Järnefelt was born in
Viipuri ,Finland . His fatherAugust Aleksander Järnefelt was an officer in the Russian army and his mother wasElisabeth Järnefelt (née "Clodt von Jürgensburg"). He studied at theSt. Petersburg art academy between 1883 and 1885, the same school at whichAlbert Edelfelt had studied. Eero Järnefelt's sister Aino Järnefelt married composerJean Sibelius in 1892,Eero Järnefelt's sisters and brothers were Kasper, Arvid, Aino Ellida, Ellen, Armas, Hilja and Sigrid.
He went to study in
Paris in 1886, where he became friends withAkseli Gallen-Kallela ,Emil Wikström andLouis Sparre . He was inspired by the "plein-air" and naturalistic paintings ofJules Bastien-Lepage On a trip to
Keuruu in 1889, he met actressSaimi Swan . They were married in 1890.His most famous painting is probably "The Wage Slaves" ("Raatajat rahanalaiset" or "Kaski", from 1893, [http://www.edu.fi/oppimateriaalit/kultakausi/eeroraat.html External link] ), depicting
slash-and-burn agriculture.Eero Järnefelt was especially inspired by nature in the Koli area, nowadays
Koli National Park . Together with A.W. Finch and Ilmari Aalto, he painted a large scene of Koli in 1911. It can be seen in the restaurant ofHelsinki railway station.External links
*fi icon [http://www.edu.fi/oppimateriaalit/kultakausi/eerotext.html Illustrated biography]
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