The creator on why this painting inspired him:

"This is one of three paintings Gallen-Kallela made of Lake Keitele, north of Helsinki.

He was inspired by the Finnish epic poem ‘The Kalevala’, which tells the story of the mythical hero Väinämöinen, the son of the wind, whose magical voice enchanted the forest and all he encountered on his journeys.

The disturbed lines in the painting represent Väinämöinen rowing across the lake playing his kantele, a traditional Finnish stringed instrument, which he made from the jaws of a pike. The atmospheres recorded here are all original; the bird sounds are pheasants."

James Murray