Helene Sofia Schjerfbeck was born in Helsinki in 1862. A serious hip injury during childhood permanently limited her mobility, but her talent opened up the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Society very early on. Thanks to scholarships, she continued her training in Paris at the Colarossi Academy, copied at the Louvre and worked in Brittany, Pont-Aven, England and Italy. Her first works were a demanding realism. The convalescent Child, presented in Paris in 1888, transformed a scene of illness into an image of renewal: the branch held by the child brought movement, light and hope. Back in Paris in 1888, transformed a scene of illness into an image of renewal: the branch held by the child brought movement, light and hope. Back in Paris in 1888, transformed into a scene of illness into an image of renewal: the branch held by the child brought movement, light and hope. Back in Paris in 1888, transformed into a scene of illness in a demanding realism. The convalescent Child, presented in Paris in 1888, transformed into a scene of illness into an image of renewal: the branch held by the child brought movement, light and hope. Back in Finland, Schjerfbeck taught for a while, then moved to Hyvinkää in 1902 with his mother. The distance from Helsinki does not mean artistic isolation. Magazines, books and reproductions allow him to follow Manet, Cézanne, El Greco and European modernity. His language becomes simpler: interrupted contours, matte backgrounds, restricted palette and almost erased shapes give the portraits mental intensity. The Dance Shoes transform clothing, pose and surface into fragile elegance. Young girls reading and The Red Girl II explore silence, concentration and modern identity. Above all, Schjerfbeck painted self-portraits throughout his career. Young girls reading and The Red Girl II explore silence, concentration and modern identity. Young girls reading and The Red Girl II explore silence, concentration and modern identity. Above all, Schjerfbeck painted self-portraits throughout his career. Young girls reading and The Red Girl II explore silence, concentration and surface in fragile elegance. Young girls reading and The Red Girl II explore silence, concentration and modern identity. Above all, Schjerfbeck painted self-portraits throughout his career. Young girls reading and The Red Girl II explored silence, concentration and surface in fragile elegance. Young girls reading and The Red Girl II explored silence, concentration and modern identity. Above all, Schjerfbeck painted self-portraits throughout his career. Young girls reading and The Red Girl II explored silence, concentration and surface in fragile elegance. Young girls reading and The Red Girl II explored a few lines, shadows and signs, confronting aging and disappearance directly. Died in Saltsjöbaden in 1946, she left a seventy-year-old work which took Finnish realism to the frontiers of abstraction. The "Helene Schjerfbeck" selection notably compares Dance Shoes and The Convalescent Child. His reading favors composition.
Schjerfbeck removes everything that explains too much: decor, modeling and anecdote fade away until a face, a hand or a line is enough to carry the entire human experience.
