Walter Runeberg
Walter Runeberg | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | December 23, 1920 Helsinki, Finland | (aged 81)
Nationality | Finnish |
Known for | Sculpture |
Movement | Neo-classical |
Walter Magnus Runeberg (December 29, 1838 – December 23, 1920) was a Finnish neo-classical sculptor.[1]
Biography
Runeberg was born in Porvoo as the eldest son of Finnish national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg[2] and his wife, Fredrika Runeberg. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, and with sculptor Carl Eneas Sjöstrand.[1] From 1858 through 1869 he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen under Herman Wilhelm Bissen, acquiring a clear influence from the neoclassical style of Bissen's master Bertel Thorvaldsen.[1] He married Lina Elfving (1841–1916) in 1867. They had six children.[1]
After periods living and working in Rome and Paris,[1][3] Runeberg produced many of Helsinki's best-known examples of monumental public art. The largest is the Alexander II Monument in Senate Square, a commission awarded jointly to Runeberg and sculptor Johannes Takanen, then completed by Runeberg after Takanen's death in 1885.[4] The pedestal features several allegorical figures. Notably, the figure representing Law is a version of the Suomi-neito, the Finnish maiden, here cloaked in bearskin.[5]
He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.[6]
Works
Statue of Alexander II
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Alexander III being shown a work-in-progress of the statue of Alexander II on 9 August 1885 at House of Nobility
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Reveal of the statue of Alexander II on 29 April 1894 at Senate Square
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The statue with its accompanying structure
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The statue itself up close from the front
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Alexander II from the side
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Close-up from the front with Helsinki Cathedral's John the Apostle in the background
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Statues at the bottom, with the four sides representing Law, Trade, Peace and Labor
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Law
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Trade
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Peace
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Labor
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Model for Trade, called Science and Art
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Model for Law
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One of the two copies of Law displayed at the Presidential Palace (pictured in 2001)
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The other copy at the House of the Estates
Other notable works
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Ilmarinen Forging the Moon, 1866
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Apollo and Marsyas at the entry lobby of Ateneum, 1874
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1885 reveal of the statue of Johan Ludvig Runeberg, his father
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Per Brahe Statue in Turku, 1888
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Slightly larger version of the same Per Brahe statue in Raahe from the same year
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Henrik Borgström monument, Taka-Töölö district of Helsinki, 1888
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Allegorical figures on the exterior of the rotunda, National Library of Finland, with fellow sculptor Karl Magnus Mellgren , 1905
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Lindgren, Liisa (9 October 2006). "Runeberg, Walter (1838 - 1920)". Kansallisbiografia. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ http://www.saatchigallery.com/museums/museum-profile/Walter+Runeberg+Collection/4641.html
- ^ "Walter Runeberg". Porvoo. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ http://www.taidemuseo.fi/english/veisto/veistossivu.html?id=317
- ^ Undressing the maid: gender, sexuality, and the body in the construction of the Finnish nation, Johanna Valenius, 2004, page 20
- ^ "Hietaniemen hautausmaa – merkittäviä vainajia" (PDF). Helsingin seurakuntayhtymä. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "ohan Ludvig Runebergin muistomerkki/ Johan Ludvig Runeberg's memorial". HAM Helsinki. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ "Kleobis ja Biton / Cleobis and Biton". HAM Helsinki. Retrieved 23 June 2020.