Ilmari Aalto

Ilmari Aalto (August 7, 1891 – 29 September 1934) was a Finnish painter. He was a member of the expressionist November Group led by the artist Tyko Sallinen. Aalto painted still lives, landscapes and portraits.

Ilmari Aalto
Aalto in likely the 1920s
Born(1891-08-07)August 7, 1891
Kuopio
DiedSeptember 29, 1934(1934-09-29) (aged 43)
NationalityFinnish
EducationCentral School of Arts and Crafts
Alma materFinnish Art Society

Life

Aalto was born in Kuopio. He studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts from 1907 to 1908 and the Finnish Art Society drawing school from 1908 to 1910.[1]

Career

Most of Aalto's landscape paintings are of Töölö and Suursaari. Aalto together with Alfred William Finch aided Eero Järnefelt paint the large landscape Koli at the Helsinki Central Station in 1911. Järnefelt and Finch were more involved in the design, but of the three artists only Aalto dared to climb the tall ladder.[2]

Self-Portrait

Having begun with expressionism he also got familiar with cubism in 1914.[2] Seeing an Edvard Munch exhibition at the Ateneum soon after his graduation had a strong influence on him and built on the expressionist influences. The first exhibition by cubists and expressionists was held in Finland in 1914, featuring key artists such as from the group Der Blaue Reiter.[3]

Self-Portrait, 1922
Self-Portrait
Another self-portrait on the back of the earlier work

After the 1920 trip to Paris, Aalto began to use more colors and strong brush strokes instead of the previously greyish palette. Later, while visiting Paris in 1928 he adopted a more realistic expression, clear contours and unmixed colors. Strongly self-critical, he is said to have destroyed many of his works.[2]

Aalto died of liver cancer at the age of 43.[2] Aalto's spouse was Alli Helena Linnalahti (formerly Ketonen).[1]

References
  1. Marja Sakari: Aalto, Ilmari (1891 - 1934) Kansallisbiografia. 11.10.2000.
  2. Hagelstam: Vahvatunnelmaisten asetelmien taitaja Viitattu 22.10.2009.
  3. fng.fi Archived 2012-04-21 at the Wayback Machine Viitattu 22.10.2009.
  • Ilmari Aalto taiteilijamatrikkelissa
  • Ilmari Aalto Valtion taidemuseon kokoelmissa.
  • Kirjav@ - Kansallisgallerian kirjaston kokoelmatietokanta, Ilmari Aalto
  • Valkonen, Olli: Maalaustaiteen murros Suomessa 1908-1914 : uudet suuntaukset maalaustaiteessa, taidearvostelussa ja taidekirjoittelussa, Jyväskylän yliopisto, 1973, ISBN 951-677-127-0
  • Vilho Nenonen: Tavattiin Brondalla, Helsinki : Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, 1981, ISBN 951-717-255-9
  • Kirjailijain ja taiteilijain joulukirja, 1917 Suomalainen kirjailijaseura, "Kirjallinen työ" ja Suomen taiteilijaseuran maalariliitto
  • Samling Gösta Stenman : finländsk konst - beskrivande katalog utarbetad av Nils-Gustav Hahl, Helsingfors: Söderström, 1932
  • A cultural history of the avant-garde in the Nordic countries 1900–1925, edited by Hubert van den Berg et al., Amsterdam ; New York (NY) : Rodopi, 2012, ISBN 978-90-420-3620-8
  • Cedercreutz, Emil: Silhouetter 2, klippta af E. Cedercreuz, Helsingfors: Konstnärsgillet, 1916
  • Biografiakeskus, Ilmari Aalto
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