Albert Edelfelt

• Albert Edelfelt : Ruokolahden eukkoja kirkonmäellä, 1887, 131x159, oil, canvas (A I 217) (50.3 kB)

Although a big city dweller, Edelfelt could not escape being inspired by the current National Romantic movement. Besides, Haikko and its Swedish speaking coastal region began to seem too sophisticated, Edelfelt wanted to see those primitive and wild landscapes of Karelia, eulogized by composers, writers and visual artists. At Ruokolahti Edelfelt studied the villagers as they gathered in great boatfuls in their bright, colourful peasant costumes by the lakeside next to the church. People came to church across long distances and well before the service started, so that there was always good time to exchange greetings and tell stories before entering the church. Albert Edelfelt completed his Women Outside the Church at Ruokolahti (1887), like the Luxembourg painting, in Haikko, using local people as his models.

Ruokolahden eukkoja kirkonmäellä