Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Gallen-Kallela was a leading figure in modern Finnish painting and the decorative arts, who studied painting in Helsinki and Paris. On returning to Finland, he became fascinated with the 'Kalevala' epic, a compilation of ancient poetry celebrating the mythic origins of Finland, on which he decided to base his art. By the mid-1890s Gallen-Kallela began to incorporate Symbolist motifs in his work. His landscape paintings of about 1900 show the influence of both Gauguin and Monet.