- Alfred William Finch
Alfred William (Willy) Finch (
Brussels 1854 –Helsinki 1930) was a ceramist and painter in the pointillist and Neo-Impressionist style.Life and work
Alfred William Finch was born in
Belgium to English parents and lived his later life inFinland .On
October 28 ,1883 , Finch became a founding member ofLes XX , a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, who rebelled against the prevailing artistic standards and outmoded academism. He was impressed by the works ofGeorges Seurat andPaul Signac and changed his own painting style from a more realistic approach into a pointillistic style. In the following years, Finch became one of the leading representatives of his style in Belgium, along withThéo van Rysselberghe .During the early 1890s, Finch switched careers from painting to pottery, upon the realization that he couldn't make a living by painting. Invited by count
Louis Sparre , Finch moved toPorvoo , Finland in 1897 to head the Iris ceramics factory, and influenced the development of the localJugendstil . After the factory was closed, Finch resumed his painting career. He died in Helsinki in 1930.External links
* [http://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/biog/Finc_AW.htm Alfred Finch biography on the Glasgow University web site]
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