Despite his popularity as history painter, Edelfelt felt that this was not what he wanted to say through his art. He was carried away by Paris and pleineirism. Edelfelt's painting A Child's Funeral (1879) eventually marked the breakthrough of Finnish Realism.
In the summer of 1879 Edelfelt returned home to Haikko from Paris. A Child's Funeral took him a few months to paint, using locals and members of his own family as models. In the painting contemporaries at last saw an 'objective' portrayal of the people, free from romanticism and idealisation. Yet the painting also caused offense and was regarded abusive. The fact that the little coffin was placed askew in the boat was interpreted as a sign of disrespect for the deceased child.
Edelfelt wanted to paint the work in the orthodox way, out in the open. What he had not taken into consideration was that one of the fundamental ideas of the pleinairists was to give the impression that the painting really was excecuted in direct contact with the subject. When painting A Child's Funeral the artist would have had to paint it in a boat in the middle of lake Haikko.
In this large composition the artist wanted to convey a feeling of
grief as expressed individually by each person in the boat. A solemn
and honest peasant people, resigned to their fate, are accompanying a
little child on his last journey. Although A Child's Funeral was
something quite new in Finland for its subject-matter, its execution
and colouring, it is still an idealistic portrayal of the people in
the spirit of Runeberg.
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The Decades of Realism and National Romanticism 
Walter Runeberg : Apollo ja Marsyas Amor ja Bacchus lapsina Johannes Takanen : Aino Andromeda National Romantic Karelianism Adolf von Becker : Äidiniloa Victor Westerholm : Knutsbodan vuoret Kukkivia hedelmäpuita, Suresnes Albert Edelfelt : Ellen Edelfelt Kuningatar Blanka Lapsen ruumissaatto Pasteurin muotokuva, harjoitelma Pariisin Luxemburgin puistossa Ruokolahden eukkoja kirkonmäellä Gunnar Berndtson : Peilin ääressä Morsiamen laulu Aukusti Uotila : Lammaspaimen Kalastuspaikka kuutamolla Akseli Gallen-Kallela : Kullervon kirous Ilmarinen kyntää kyisen pellon Poika ja varis Mädäntynyt kuha Aino-taru Lemminkäisen äiti Velisurmaaja Tytön pää, Pikku Anna Kevät Démasquée Eero Järnefelt : Taiteilijan pojan muotokuva Matilda Wreden muotokuva Kaislikkoranta Pielisjärven syysmaisema Raatajat rahanalaiset Pekka Halonen : Viulunsoittaja Oijustie Avannolla Syksyinen raita Tienraivaajia Karjalassa Helene Schjerfbeck : Vihreä asetelma Istuva valkopukuinen nainen Toipilas Kansakoulutyttö Mustataustainen omakuva Omakuva 1944 Maria Wiik : Hilda Wiikin muotokuva Maailmalle Juho Rissanen : Sokea Povarissa Rauta kaulassa Lapsuuden muisto
