Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Retretti 2011: Married to an Artist (introduction)

Official introduction: "The main exhibition, Married to an Artist, of the Retretti Art Centre`s summer 2011 programme throws light on the life and oeuvre of Finnish artist couples over a period of one hundred years - on the lives of the artists, the interaction of two artists married to one another and the focus on their work."

"The exhibition comprises works by such well-known masters as Werner Holmberg, Victor Westerholm, Juho Rissanen, Elin Danielson-Gambogi and Alvar Cawén, as well as works by their lesser-known spouses, Anna Glad, Hilma Alander, Hilda Flodin, Raffaello Gambogi and Ragni Cawén. Married to an Artist brings a new perspective to Finland`s Golden Age and Early Modernism. The exhibition has been curated by Emerita Professor Riitta Konttinen."

"The nearly 150 works in Retretti`s exhibition represents the first extensive study of the work of artist couples in Finland and raises issues which have puzzled researches and the public both in Finland and internationally. The contemporary French artist, François Morellet has paradoxically stated that an artist couple "is as one, but which one?" The life shared by two artists has been seen as enriching both lives although problems have aso been recognised: the husband has often been considered to have a self-evident right to the role of "master", whereas his wife has been forced into the background. This has not always been the case, however, and the impact of the twin roles may also have been reciprocal, far-reaching and rewarding."

"Through the work of the artist couples the Retretti exhibition recounts tales of Finnish art life and provides an overview of the development of Finnish art from the Romanticism of the mid-19th century, through Finland`s Golden Age to start of Modernism."

"The exhibition presents paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and books, concentrating on fifteen major artist couples, in addition to the afore-mentioned, Antoinette Råström and Ville Vallgren, Julia Stigzelius and César de Cock, Venny Soldan and Juhani Aho, Eva Mannerheim and Louis Sparre, Eva Bremer and Eemu Myntti, Meri Genetz and Carl Wargh, Lyyli and Yrjö Ollila, Ragni Holmberg-Cawén and Alvar Cawén, Eva Törnwall-Collin and Marcus Collin, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson and Viktor Jansson, Greta Hällfors-Sipilä and Sulho Sipilä. Their stories will be enriched by works of other artists."

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