In 2022, the Musée Jacquemart-André devotes an exhibition to the work of the Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865–1931). Via round seventy works held in public and private collections, including exceptional pictures from the Gallen-Kallela Museum in Espoo, the exhibition explores a predominant aspect of his work throughout his career—the theme of nature and the Finnish countryside.

Clouds are reflected, either with a matt or glossy appearance, depending on whether the ice has melted or leaves a thin trace on the surface of the water. Light snow forms new shapes. A tree traverses the countryside’s horizontality and underlines the intense solitude that reigns in this Nordic land. Gallen-Kallela succeeded in representing Finland with incomparable lyricism. Turning away from urban modernity, his oeuvre was inspired by wild nature, and followed the seasons, with a focus onthe dense forests and numerous Finnish lakes.

Although Gallen-Kalella’s works had already featured in thematic exhibitions that focused on Finishor Nordic art, it was the major retrospective devoted to his work held in Musée d’Orsay in 2012 that enabled Parisians to discover his entire career.The exhibition in the Musée Jacquemart-André aims to explore in great detail the issue of the artist’srelation with nature, which changed over the course of his career.

Initially ethnographic, his approach became more esoteric as of 1895 and attained unparalleled amplitude at the turn of the twentieth century. This shift was reflected in the changing style of his work from naturalism to symbolism.The construction of Kalela’s house cum studio in 1894, removed from cities and modern life, played a  central role in the artistic and conceptual definition of the artist’s role in nature. Within a microcosmthat was both outward and inward looking, Gallen-Kallela attempted to materialise an artistic ideal that was also strongly expressed in his work.