Gustaf Wilhelm Finnberg (21 November 1784 – 28 June 1833) was a Finnish painter.

Biography

Finnberg was born in

Pargas Pargas ( fi, Parainen) is a town and municipality of Finland, in the Archipelago Sea, the biggest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, 50,000. The big limestone mine in Pargas is the base of the main industry and except for the cent ...

to sailor Johan Finnberg and Sophia Stenroos. In 1800 he left for

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

to apprentice as a painter there, and in 1805 he graduated as a journeyman painter, with his graduation work being a portrait of a man drawn with red chalk. He spent the years 1806 he left to Stockholm to study at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, archite ...

. From the recommendation of Louis Masreliez he was immediately accepted to the higher courses. Although he had success in his studies, he never officially graduated. After 1814 he is no longer in the registry of students, although in 1815 he still took part in a students' contest for the topic Alexander visits Diogenes and won first prize. While his primary interest was historical paintings, he made his living through painting portraits. He also executed some miniatures and landscape works. He possibly faced more difficulties after the 1809

Finnish War The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a re ...

, now being a Russian citizen. When his father died 2 October 1820 he returned to Finland and set up his own

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or ...

in Turku. The painter Robert Wilhelm Ekman and perhaps also

Magnus von Wright Magnus von Wright (13 June 1805 – 5 July 1868) was a Swedish-Finnish painter and educator. In addition to bird illustrations, he was also known for his landscapes. Biography Magnus von Wright was born at the village of Haminalahti in Ku ...

studied under Finnberg in the 1820s. Robert Wilhelm Ekman - Profile portrait drawing of Gustaf Wilhelm Finnberg

His atelier and many of his works were destroyed by the 1827

Great Fire of Turku The Great Fire of Turku ( fi, Turun palo, sv, Åbo brand and russian: Пожар Або) was a conflagration in the city of Turku in 1827. It is still the largest urban fire in the history of Finland and the Nordic countries. The city had burned ...

, which greatly affected Finnberg's life and career. His most famous painting is likely the 1827 ''After the

''. He left Turku and moved to Stockholm soon afterwards. Other than some works inspired by the fire, Finnberg struggled to make a living as an artist until his death on 28 June 1833.

Works

References

Media

* ''Porträttmålaren Gustaf Wilhelm Finnberg och hans tid 1784–1833.'' Movie by Göran Gunér. DVD, Athenafilm.

Biography

Works

See also

References

Media

Further reading