Mathilda Wilhelmina Rotkirch (28 July 1813 – 6 March 1842) was a Finnish painter. She is often referred to as the first female artist in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. She principally made

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

paintings.

Biography

Rotkirch was born in

Borgå Porvoo (; ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located on the south coast of the country, on the Gulf of Finland. Porvoo lies in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Porvoo is approximately , while the sub-region has a populati ...

(Porvoo), Finland. She was the daughter of Baron and Augusta Fredrika Elisabeth Rotkirch Aminoff. In the spring of 1833, she made her first study trip to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

where she studied with

Johan Gustaf Sandberg Johan Gustaf Sandberg (13 May 1782 – 26 June 1854) was a Swedish painter. He was foremost a history painter and used settings from Norse mythology and Swedish history. His most widely known work in this area are his frescoes in Uppsala Cathedr ...

and

Robert Wilhelm Ekman Robert Wilhelm Ekman (August 13, 1808 – February 19, 1873), R. W. Ekman, was a significant teacher and painter of the Finnish romantic portraits and early national romanticism. Childhood and Arts Education Robert Ekman was born in Uusikaupun ...

. She was a student at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other fine arts, it is one of seve ...

between 1833 and 1838. She took a study trip in 1840–1841 along with artist Sophie Aminoff (1808–1862) and her husband Carl Reuterskiöld, on a journey through Europe. They visited Lübeck, Hamburg, Kassel, Strasbourg, Bern, Geneva, Milan and Paris, where she studied with the Swedish painter and designer Per Wickenberg (1812–1846). She died of a lung ailment in Åbo (

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 ...

) during 1842 at the age of 28. She was buried in the family graveyard at Näsebacken next to Borgå. Rotkirch was represented in an exhibition in Finland in 1847. She is represented at both

Ateneum Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It has ...

and

Cygnaeus Gallery The Cygnaeus Gallery (, ) is an art gallery in Helsinki. The art gallery was founded by the professor of aesthetics Fredrik Cygnaeus. It was built as a villa in 1869–1870 to designs by architect J.F.W. Mieritz. Cygnaeus donated the gallery to th ...

References

Literature

* Kuurne, Jouni: ''Mathilda Rotkirch: Taiteilija ja matkailija.'' 2002. ** * Westermarck, Helena: Mathilda Rotkirch. ''Historiska och litteraturhistoriska studier'' 2, pp. 8–78. Svensk Litteratursällskap i Finland, Helsingfors 1926. * Willner-Rönnholm, Margareta: Målarinnan Mathilda Rotkirch: En bortglömd pionjär? ''Finsk Tidskrift'', 1/2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rotkirch, Mathilda 1813 births 1842 deaths 19th-century Finnish nobility 19th-century Finnish women artists 19th-century Finnish painters Finnish women painters 19th-century women painters