artist: Matti Vainikainen (Finnish 1925-2011)
medium: oil on panel
dimensions: 50 x 40 cm (approx)
signed and dated 1967
Taidemaalariliitto målarförbundet exhibition label verso
presented in its original frame with wear and patina consistent with age - some areas of chipping on frame but overall it presents well.
AU $2250 (approx US$595 / 525 EUROS / 68,000 yen / 440 GBP - for exact current value visit xe.com)
artist biography
Erkki Matti Vainikainen was born on 5 June, 1925 in Vyborg. He was a Finnish painter.
Vainikainen's parents were the author, city secretary Veikko Vainikainen and Tyyni Vuorensola. Vainikainen studied at the Vapaassa taidekoulu in Helsinki in the 1940s with teachers including Unto Pusa , Yrjö Verho , Sam Vanni and Sigrid Schauman. He later completed his studies in France between 1952 and 1954 and later in Spain.
Vainikainen's works are mostly brightly coloured figurative paintings, with subjects people and urban spaces, usually very vivid scenes. Vainikainen is perhaps best known in his style as a Cubist and as a "Helsinki painter". His later output also included abstract expressionism and some surrealist works.
Vainikainen first exhibited in 1949 in Helsinki and exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions throughout his career. Select exhibitions include the Suomen Taiteilijain näyttely (annual exhibition of Finnish artists) in 1952-56, 1966, 1969, 1975, the Suomen Taideakatemian (Finnish Academy of Arts exhibition) in 1953, 1956, 1965, 1968 and 1971, the Nuorten näyttely in 1949, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1958, the Taidemaalariliiton (Finnish Association of Painters) exhibition in 1969.
In addition to painting Vainikainen was also an active writer. In the field of fiction, in 1967 he had a published suspense novel Kohtalon monet sormet (Many Fingers of Fate), and he also wrote poetry. He regularly wrote art policy statements for industry journals and wrote an art column in Kuluttaja magazine. Vainikainen worked as a teacher at the City of Helsinki Työväenopistossa (Workers' College) for 17 years. In support of his teaching, he wrote both a drawing guide and the first Finnish handbook of watercolour painting.
In 1982, Vainikainen was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal.
Vainikainen passed away in Helsinki aged 86 on 8 July, 2011.