Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865–1931) was a Finnish painter, born in Pori, then part of the Russian Empire's Grand Duchy of Finland. He studied in Paris from 1884 to 1889, where he was influenced by Jules Bastien-Lepage, and began as a realist before turning to Symbolism and national romanticism in the 1890s. He is best known for illustrations and paintings drawn from the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, including The Defense of the Sampo (1896), Lemminkäinen's Mother (1897) and Kullervo's Curse (1899). He painted frescoes for the Finnish pavilion at the 1900 Paris World Fair and for the Jusélius Mausoleum in Pori. He changed his surname from Gallén to Gallen-Kallela in 1907. In 1909–10 he travelled in Kenya, becoming the first Finnish artist to paint south of the Sahara, and in 1924–25 he worked in Taos, New Mexico. He was granted a professorship in 1919. Gallen-Kallela died of pneumonia in Stockholm in March 1931. His studio at Tarvaspää became a museum in 1961.