Enni Id (30 January 1904 – 4 April 1992) was a Finnish self-taught painter. Her art is defined as

naïve art Naïve art is usually defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). When this aesthetic is ...

. Id only began painting at an older age after the death of her husband Edvard Id in 1966. Enni Id painted with oil paints, mostly on the hardboard base. In her paintings, she depicted traditional rural life, cat themes, and floral arrangements. She also painted the interior walls and furniture of her home cottage in Seitniemi, Padasjoki. These painting feature cats peeking out in the middle of floral patterns and leaf ornaments. Her cabin is preserved and maintained by Kellosalmi-Seitniemi-Virmaila village association. The cabin is open for visitors during summertime.

Art exhibitions

Id's works were first exhibited at the 1973 Helsinki Art Hall's exhibition of naive art. Thanks to the exhibition, she became more widely known and gained visibility. Later she participated in group and solo exhibitions in Finland, and also the Nordic Naive Exhibition in

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, in 1974. She was selected this exhibition with 11 other Finnish artists. Id organized solo exhibitions at the Brahe Gallery in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

(1973) and at the Helsinki Art Point (1975). Her works have been featured in several ITE art exhibitions.

Oulu Museum of Art The Oulu Museum of Art (OMA) is an art museum in the Myllytulli neighbourhood in Oulu. It is located on the edge of the Hupisaaret Islands park. The museum was opened to the public on October 12, 1963. The first premises were in the so-called ''K ...

and

Kiasma Kiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name ''kiasma'', Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. Kiasma is part of the Finnish National Gallery, an ...

have her paintings in their museum collections.

Biography

Enni Id was born in 1904 in

Padasjoki Padasjoki () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is from Padasjoki to Lahti and to Heinola. The municipality has a population of () and covers an a ...

. Her parents, who were tenants of a manor, were not married. Id had several siblings and her parents exercised severe discipline when raising children. As a child, Enni Id worked as a

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

. Painting was not allowed at the time. At the age of twenty she fled from her home to the capital

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, where she studied and worked in her aunt's sewing shop. Id first married to

mechanic A mechanic is a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially engines. Formerly, the term meant any member of the handicraft trades, but by the early 20th century, it had come to mean one who works w ...

Kaarlo Hiekkarinne in 1929. The couple lived in

Kallio Kallio (; ; literally " the rock") is a district and a neighbourhood in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, located on the eastern side of the Helsinki peninsula about one kilometre north from the city centre. It is one of the most densely pop ...

, Helsinki, but Hiekkarinne died a few years later. After this, Enni Id moved back to Padasjoki in 1936. She remarried in 1939, to mason Edvard Id. Enni Id had no children from either of these marriages. Id only started to paint full-time after the second husband Edvard passed away. She was over 60 years at that point. The husband had not tolerated painting. Enni Id originally received her painting equipment as a gift from a family of teachers who spent summers in Padasjoki. Enni Id lived her last years in the municipal nursing home. Even there she continued to paint. Id died of pneumonia on April 4, 1992, in Padasjoki. Id was a colorful and eye-catching personality, almost a local celebrity. Some people resented her and considered her lewd personality. The cabin of Enni Id 02

References

External links

Photos from the cottage of Enni Id, Laatukuva Oy
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Book on the life of Enni Id (Finna.fi record)
(Finna.fi)
Info about visiting Enni Ids cabin (in Finnish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Id, Enni 1904 births 1992 deaths People from Padasjoki 20th-century Finnish people 20th-century Finnish painters Naïve painters 20th-century Finnish women painters