Wäinö Valdemar Aaltonen (8 March 1894 – 30 May 1966) was a Finnish artist and sculptor. The

Chambers Biographical Dictionary ''Chambers Biographical Dictionary'' provides concise descriptions of over 18,000 notable figures from Britain and the rest of the world. It was first published in 1897. The publishers, Chambers Harrap, who were formerly based in Edinburgh, clai ...

describes him as "one of the leading Finnish sculptors". He was born to a tailor in the village of

Karinainen Karinainen is a former municipality of Finland. It was merged to Pöytyä in the beginning of 2005. It was located in the province of Western Finland and was part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of 2,457 (2004 ...

, Finland. He became interested in art after being

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

as a child, and attended the School of Drawing of the Turku Art Association from age 16, or specifically between 1910 and 1915. He had spent many of the early years at this school studying painting, but he was mainly self-taught as a sculptor. He learned the technics of treatment of marble with his relative Aarre Aaltonen, and by working as a trainee stonemason in Hirvensalo. Sculptor Felix Nylund was a substitute teacher in the art school in Turku for one season, and his work was inspiration for young Aaltonen. A journey Aaltonen made to Italy in 1923 opened his eyes to

cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

and

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...

art. These elements can primarily be seen in his paintings. As the

Republic of Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

arose, and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

raged, he sculpted

War Memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

s. He soon became a nationalist icon, the exemplar Finn, establishing an exhibition in Stockholm in 1927. His sculpture is nationalist in nature, and he is noted for monumental figures and

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

s portraying citizens of Finland. An example is the 1925 sculpture of

Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" or the "Phantom Finn", as he dominated distance running in the 1920s. Nurmi set 22 official world ...

, a cast of which is exhibited outside the

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

stadium. Another notable work is that of

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

, a bust of 1928. These two works, like the main body of his work, are bronze casts—though he did work in stone and even glass. Though chiefly naturalistic, the cubist influence is also present here. He was one of the early 20th-century pioneers of direct carving. When the new House of Parliament for Finland was built, architect

Johan Sigfrid Sirén Johan Sigfrid Sirén (27 May 1889 – 5 March 1961) was a Finland, Finnish architect. He is best known for Parliament House, Helsinki, Eduskuntatalo, which is where the Parliament of Finland meets. Career Sirén was born in 1889 in Ylihärm� ...

wished he could buy sculptures directly from Aaltonen. Instead, an open competition was announced, and Aaltonen's ''Work and the Future'' was selected as the winner. The series of gilded plaster sculptures that Aaltonen completed in 1932 were cast in bronze after his death. Aaltonen was married four times. His first wife was singer Aino Alisa Pietikäinen from 1920, second wife actor Elsa Emilia Rantalainen from 1931, third wife gallerist in Galerie Artek Elvi Elisabet Hernell from 1942 and fourth wife medical doctor Marie Elisabeth Maasik from year 1961. His son Matti Aaltonen became an architect, who designed e.g. Wäinö Aaltonen museum in Turku. A large collection of his works are on permanent exhibition at the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art in

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''; ...

. His work was also part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

Works

*Tytön pää, n. 1917 *Graniittipoika, 1917–1920 *Maria Jotuni, 1918–1920 *Opettajani, 1919 *Aaro Hellaakosken pronssipää, 1919 *Savonlinnan sankaripatsas, (''The Hero's Grave'') 1919–1921 *Punagraniittinen neito, 1923 *Mustagraniittinen neito, 1924 * Paavo Nurmi runner statue, 1924–1925 *Seisova nainen, 1920–1924 *Istuva nainen, 1920–1925 *Uimaan lähtevä nainen, 1924 *Turun Lilja, n. 1924–1926 *Musica, 1926 *Aleksis Kivi statue (Tampere), 1926–1927 *Statues on

Hämeensilta Hämeensilta (the ″Häme Bridge″) is a bridge in Tampere, Finland, crossing the Tammerkoski rapids. The main street of Tampere, Hämeenkatu, runs along the bridge, connecting the Kyttälä district to the western parts of the city center. Hä ...

bridge, Tampere: Eränkävijä (the Hunter), Veronkantaja (the Tax Collector), Kauppias (the Merchant) ja Suomen neito (the Maiden of Finland), 1927–1929 *Myrsky (Memorial statue for the 53 victims of the sunken

Finnish torpedo boat S2 ''S2'' (ex-''Prozorlivy'' and ex-''Gagara'' in Russian service) was a Finnish ''Sokol'' class torpedo boat that had been seized from the Russians after the Finnish Civil War 1918. She sank during a fierce storm on 4 October 1925, taking with her ...

in Reposaari, Pori), 1930 *Statues in the plenary chamber of Parliament House 1930–1932 * Aleksis Kivi Memorial (Helsinki), 1930–1939 *Marjatta, 1934 *Delaware-muistomerkki, 1937–1938 *Vapauden jumalatar seppelöi nuoruuden, 1939–1940 *Memorial of the Battle of Kämärä, 1939/1949 *Tampereen Osuustoimintamuistomerkki, 1949–1950 *Ystävyys solmitaan (Joint monument for the cities of Turku and Gothenburg), n. 1948–1955 *Lahden sankaripatsas, 1952 *Rautatienrakentajien muistomerkki, 1957, Hyvinkää *Genius ohjaa nuoruutta (in front of the

University of Turku sv, Åbo universitet , latin_name = Universitas Aboensis , image_name = University of Turku.svg , motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle'' , established = 1920 , type ...

main library), 1958–1960 *Statues of presidents in front of Parliament house: K. J. Ståhlberg, 1957–1958; P. E. Svinhufvud, 1957–1959 *Genius Montanus (on Aaltonen's grave in Turku), 1960 *Johannes Gutenberg, 1962 (Büste)

References

External links

Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art in Turku

Art Signature Dictionary, genuine signature by the artist Wäinö Aaltonen
Here are 11 examples of Wäinö Aaltonen's signature and monogram, six dated from 1925 to 1940. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaltonen, Waino 1894 births 1966 deaths People from Pöytyä People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Modern sculptors Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal 20th-century Finnish sculptors Olympic competitors in art competitions