1. Helena Sofia Schjerfbeck was born on July 10,1862, in Helsinki, in the autonomous Grand-Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire, to Svante Schjerfbeck and Olga Johanna.
23 Facts About Helene Schjerfbeck
1. 2.
Helene Schjerfbeck had one surviving brother, Magnus Schjerfbeck, who went on to become an architect.
3.
Helene Schjerfbeck showed talent at an early age, and at eleven years old in 1873 she was enrolled at the Finnish Art Society School of Drawing.
4.
Helene Schjerfbeck's fees were paid by Adolf von Becker, who saw promise in her.
5.
When Helene Schjerfbeck's father died of tuberculosis, on February 2,1876, Helene Schjerfbeck's mother took in boarders so that they could get by.
6.
Helene Schjerfbeck continued her education, with Westermarck and paid for by Professor Georg Asp, at a private academy run by Adolf von Becker, which utilised the University of Helsinki drawing studio.
7.
In 1879, at the age of 17, Helene Schjerfbeck won third prize in a competition organised by the Finnish Art Society, and in 1880 her work was displayed in an annual Finnish Art Society exhibition.
8.
That summer Helene Schjerfbeck spent time at Sjundby Manor, owned by her aunt on her mother's side Selma Printz and her husband Thomas Adlercreutz.
9.
Helene Schjerfbeck became particularly close to her cousin Selma Adlercreutz, who was her age.
10.
In Paris, Helene Schjerfbeck painted with Helena Westermarck, then left to study with Leon Bonnat at Mme Trelat de Vigny's studio.
11.
Helene Schjerfbeck then went back to the Academie Colarossi briefly, before returning to the Adlercreutz family manor in Finland.
12.
Helene Schjerfbeck continued to move around frequently, painting and studying with various people.
13.
Helene Schjerfbeck made money by continuing to put her paintings in the Art Society's exhibitions, and she did illustrations for books.
14.
The engagement came to an end in 1885 when a problem with Helene Schjerfbeck's hip led the groom's family to suspect tuberculosis.
15.
Helene Schjerfbeck was given more money to travel by a man from the Finnish Art Society and in 1887 she travelled to St Ives, Cornwall, in Britain.
16.
Helene Schjerfbeck moved to Hyvinkaa, which was known for its sanatorium, all while taking care of her mother who lived with her.
17.
Helene Schjerfbeck's work has been compared to that of artists such as James McNeill Whistler and Edvard Munch, but from 1905 her paintings took on a character that was hers alone.
18.
Helene Schjerfbeck continued experimenting with various techniques such as using different types of underpainting.
19.
In 1913 Helene Schjerfbeck met the art-dealer Gosta Stenman, with whose encouragement she exhibited at Malmo in 1914, Stockholm in 1916 and St Petersburg in 1917.
20.
Helene Schjerfbeck's paintings were successfully displayed in several exhibitions in Sweden in the 1930s and 1940s.
21.
Helene Schjerfbeck later moved into a nursing home, where she resided for less than a year before moving to the Luontola sanatorium.
22.
Helene Schjerfbeck died on January 23,1946, and was buried at the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.
23.
The 2003 biographical novel Helene Schjerfbeck by Rakel Liehu was a critical and commercial success, and won the 2004 Runeberg Prize.