Editing Hugo Simberg

{{short description|Finnish painter (1873–1917)}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Hugo Simberg
| image = Portrait photograph of Hugo Simberg (1899-1906) (crop).jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name = Hugo Gerhard Simberg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1873|6|24|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Hamina]], [[Grand Duchy of Finland]], [[Russian Empire]]<br>{{small|(now Hamina, [[Finland]])}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1917|7|12|1873|6|24|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Ähtäri]], Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire<br>{{small|(now Ähtäri, Finland)}}
| nationality = [[Finns|Finnish]]
| field = [[Painter]]
| training = 
| movement = [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]]
| works = ''[[The Garden of Death]]'' (1896)<br />''[[The Wounded Angel]]'' (1903)
| patrons =
| awards =
}}
'''Hugo Gerhard Simberg''' (24 June 1873 – 12 July 1917) was a [[Finland|Finnish]] [[Symbolism (movement)|symbolist painter]] and [[graphic artist]].

==Life and career==
[[File:Herran Kukkaro, Hamina.jpg|thumb|The birthplace of Hugo Simberg in the town of Hamina]]
[[File:Photograph of Hugo Simberg working on the Tampere Cathedral frescoes.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Working on the [[Tampere Cathedral]] frescoes, 1904]]
Simberg was born on 24 June 1873, at [[Hamina]] ({{langx|sv|Fredrikshamn}}), Finland, the son of Colonel Nicolai Simberg and Ebba Matilda Simberg (née Widenius).<ref name="didrichsen">{{cite web |last1=Syvälahti |first1=Hanne |title=Hugo Simberg elämäkerta |url=https://www.didrichsenmuseum.fi/nayttelyt/edelliset-nayttelyt/hugo-simberg/elamakerta_simberg/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206023507/http://www.didrichsenmuseum.fi:80/nayttelyt/edelliset-nayttelyt/hugo-simberg/elamakerta_simberg/ |archive-date=6 Feb 2017 |accessdate=9 May 2020 |website=Didrichsen Museum}}</ref> In 1891, at the age of 18, he enrolled at the Drawing School of the [[Viipuri]] Friends of Art, and he also studied at the Drawing School of the [[Finnish Art Society]] from 1893 to 1895. Then, in 1895, he decided to become the private pupil of [[Akseli Gallen-Kallela]] at his wilderness studio Kalela in [[Ruovesi]]. He studied under Gallen-Kallela for three periods between 1895 and 1897.<ref name="didrichsen"/><ref name="artistregister">{{cite web |title=Hugo Simberg |url=https://kuvataiteilijamatrikkeli.fi/en/taiteilija/hugo-simberg-2 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626191004/https://kuvataiteilijamatrikkeli.fi/en/taiteilija/hugo-simberg-2 |archive-date=26 Jun 2019 |accessdate=23 May 2020 |website=Artist Register |publisher=Artists' Association of Finland}}</ref>

In 1896, Simberg went to London, and in 1897 to Paris and Italy. During these years he exhibited several works at the Finnish Artists' autumn exhibitions, including ''Autumn, Frost'', ''The Devil Playing'' and ''Aunt Alexandra'' (1898), which were well received. Critical success led to his being made a member of the Finnish Art Association and to his being appointed to teach at the Drawing School of the Viipuri Friends of Art.<ref name="didrichsen"/>

In 1904, he was commissioned to decorate the interior of St John's church in Tampere (now [[Tampere Cathedral]]), a project which he carried out with [[Magnus Enckell]] between 1904 and 1906. At the turn of the year 1907-08 he made a short visit to the United States.<ref name="didrichsen"/> He also designed the [[UPM-Kymmene]] logo, the Griffon (1899).

From around 1907 to 1913, he taught at the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Association at [[Ateneum]].<ref name="didrichsen"/> In 1910, he married Anni Bremer. They had two children, Tom and Uhra-Beata, the latter of whom became a [[Rya (rug)|rya]] artist.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Priha |first1=Päikki |date=9 October 2006 |title=Simberg-Ehrström, Uhra (1914 - 1979) |url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/8384 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227024453/https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/8384 |archive-date=27 Feb 2024 |accessdate=23 May 2020 |website=Kansallisbiografia}}</ref>

He died in [[Ähtäri]] on 12 July 1917.<ref name="didrichsen"/><ref name="leiwo">{{cite news |last1=Leiwo |first1=Hanne |date=11 June 2017 |title=Hugo Simbergin kuolemasta 100 vuotta – muistomerkki paljastettiin kuolinpaikalla Ähtärissä |url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9663309 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602031237/https://yle.fi/a/3-9663309 |archive-date=2 Jun 2023 |accessdate=23 May 2020 |work=Yle}}</ref> His biographer, Helena Ruuska, suspects that he battled an unknown disease, possibly [[syphilis]], for a long time.<ref name="ruuska">{{cite book |last1=Ruuska |first1=Helena |title=Hugo Simberg: pirut ja enkelit |date=2018 |publisher=Werner Söderström |isbn=9789510421826}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Halonen |first1=Kaisa |date=22 November 2018 |title=Helena Ruuska penkoi Hugo Simbergin elämää kahden ja puolen vuoden ajan, mutta jotkut kysymykset jäivät vastausta vaille |url=https://www.kirkkojakaupunki.fi/-/helena-ruuska-penkoi-hugo-simbergin-elamaa-kahden-ja-puolen-vuoden-ajan-mutta-jotkut-kysymykset-jaivat-vastausta-vaille |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021145159/https://www.kirkkojakaupunki.fi/-/helena-ruuska-penkoi-hugo-simbergin-elamaa-kahden-ja-puolen-vuoden-ajan-mutta-jotkut-kysymykset-jaivat-vastausta-vaille |archive-date=21 Oct 2022 |accessdate=9 May 2020 |work=Kirkko ja kaupunki}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Varjus |first1=Seppo |date=7 October 2018 |title=Hugo Simbergin enkeli antoi kasvot sisällissodan julmuudelle – vaikka synkkä salaisuus vei maalarin hautaan jo ennen |url=https://www.is.fi/viihde/art-2000005851582.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021145313/https://www.is.fi/viihde/art-2000005851582.html |archive-date=21 Oct 2022 |accessdate=9 May 2020 |work=Ilta-Sanomat}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kotiranta |first1=Pirkko |date=24 October 2018 |title=Vaiettu sairaus leimasi piruja ja enkeleitä maalanneen Hugo Simbergin elämää – uusi elämäkerta tuo julki monia puuttuvia palasia |url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000005874090.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021145050/https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000005874090.html |archive-date=21 Oct 2022 |accessdate=23 May 2020 |work=Helsingin Sanomat}}</ref>

==Style==

Simberg's paintings emphasize mainly macabre and supernatural topics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Simberg, Hugo (1873 - 1917) |url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/4123 |website=National Biography of Finland |accessdate=9 May 2020 |last1=Kruskopf |first1=Erik |date=20 June 2019 |language=Finnish}}</ref> Simberg's most famous painting is ''[[The Wounded Angel]]''. Its titular character appears in the shape of a winged angel with a bandaged head, borne on a stretcher by two somberly dressed boys, one of whom looks toward the viewer with a serious expression. The painting is the best known of the artist's works and is especially famous in Finland.<ref name="didrichsen"/> The Finnish [[symphonic metal]] band [[Nightwish]] released in 2007 a music video influenced by this painting,  "[[Amaranth (song)|Amaranth]]".

{{Gallery
|height=250
|mode=packed
|File:The Wounded Angel - Hugo Simberg.jpg|''[[The Wounded Angel]]'', 1903, voted Finland's "national painting" in a public vote organized by [[Ateneum]] in 2006<ref>{{cite news |title=Haavoittunut enkeli on suomalaisten suosikkitaulu |url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-6039024 |accessdate=23 May 2020 |work=Yle |date=2 December 2006}}</ref>
|File:Hugo Simberg Garden of Death.jpg|''[[The Garden of Death]]'', 1896
}}

Another famous painting is ''[[The Garden of Death]]'', which, like many of Simberg's paintings, depicts a gloomy, otherworldly scene. The central figures are reminiscent of the classic black-clad Grim Reaper, but paradoxically are tending to gardens, traditionally symbols of birth or renewal.<ref name="pellinen">{{cite web |last1=Pellinen |first1=Kirsi |title=Symbolistinen taidevalokuva tunneilmaisukeinona: Kuinka tulkita ja ilmaista symbolistisen taidevalokuvan keinoin? |url=https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/106733/Pellinen_Kirsi.pdf |website=Theseus |publisher=OAMK |accessdate=1 June 2020 |date=2016}}</ref>

==Gallery==
{{See also|Tampere Cathedral}}

{{Gallery
|height=150
|mode=packed
|Hugo Simberg - Frost.jpg|''Frost'' <small>([[:fi:Halla (maalaus)|fi]])</small>, 1895, [[gouache]]
|Hugo Simberg - Autumn I.jpg|''Autumn I'', 1895
|Hugo Simberg - Poppy.jpg|''Poppy'', 1896
|Hugo Simberg - The Stream of Life, On the River of Life - A II 968-20 - Finnish National Gallery.jpg|''On the Stream of Life'', 1896
|Hugo Simberg - Tonttukuningas nukkuu (1896).jpg|''King Hobgoblin Sleeping'', 1896
|Hugo Simberg - The Devil Playing.jpg|''The Devil Playing'', 1896{{NoteTag|Simberg describes how in London at dusk he saw youths gathering at a park, forming a circle, with a man and a woman entering the center and beginning to passionately kiss. He described the feeling as if he had heard the devil playing somewhere nearby.<ref name="ruuska"/>}}
|Simberg devil pot.jpg|''The Devil by the Pot'' <small>([[:fi:Piru padan ääressä|fi]])</small>, 1897
|Simberg evening.jpg|''Spring Evening During the Break-Up of the Ice'', 1897 <small>([[:fi:Kevätilta jäänlähdön aikaan|fi]])</small>
|Hugo Simberg - The Wind Blows.jpg|''The Wind Blows'', 1897
|Hugo Simberg - The Poor Devil with its Twins.jpg|''The Poor Devil with its Twins'', 1898, [[watercolor]] and oil
|Hugo Simberg - The Farmer's Wife and the Poor Devil - A II 968-34 - Finnish National Gallery.jpg|''The Farmer's Wife and the Poor Devil with its Twins'', 1899
|Hugo Simberg - Yawning Snake.jpg|''Yawning Snake'', 1899, painted on his travels in the [[Caucasus]]
|Hugo Simberg - Sheep Girl.tif|''Sheep Girl'', 1913
|Simberg, Iltaa kohti.jpg|''Towards the evening'', 1913
}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Finland|Art|Painting}}
*[[Golden Age of Finnish Art]]
*[[Art in Finland]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* S. Koja, ed. ''Nordic Dawn: Modernism's Awakening in Finland 1890-1920'' [exhibition catalogue] (2005. Prestel)
* ''Hugo Simberg 1873-1917'', ed. A. Olavinen [exhibition catalogue, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki] (2000)
* ''Hugo Simberg 1873-1917. His life & art'' [CD-rom, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki] (2000)

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Hugo Simberg}}
* [http://www.lahteilla.fi/simberg-data/#/download Finnish National Gallery Collection of Simberg's works] also on [https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnishnationalgallery/sets/72157649370205747/ Flickr]
* {{BLF|4123|Hugo Simberg}}

{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simberg, Hugo}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1917 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Hamina]]
[[Category:People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)]]
[[Category:Swedish-speaking Finns]]
[[Category:Symbolist painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Finnish painters]]
[[Category:Finnish male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Finnish male artists]]