artist: Jaakko Somersalo (Finnish 1916-1966)
medium: linocut
dimensions: 47 x 58 1/2 cm frame size
limited edition 34/150
signed and dated 50
presented in its original frame
AU $830 (approx US $530 / 495 EUROS / 80,000 yen / 430 GBP - for exact current conversion visit xe.com)
artist biography
Jaakko Ilmari Somersalo was born September 3, 1916 Kuhmoinen. He was a Finnish painter and print maker.
Somersalo original studied architecture in Munich from 1940-41, but then decided he wanted to be an artist and began studying in 1945 at the Taideteollisuuskeskuskoulun (Central School of Arts and Crafts) in Helsinki and continued to 1949. He took private study trips around Scandinavia, as well as France, England, Germany, Italy, Spain and Northern Africa. In 1949 he travelled around Europe with Maija Isola. Somersalo taught her woodcut printing and inspired her to paint. The couple were married between 1952 and 55. Isola was head designer at Marimekko and responsible for creating for the company’s most famous designs.
Select solo exhibitions include ones in Helsinki 1959 and 1961. group shows with the regular ‘Kotimaassa ja ulkomailla’ (‘At Home and Abroad’) beginning in 1947, PTL and NGU exhibitions, 'Viiva ja vär’ (’Line and Colour’) Helsinki 1951, Helsinki and Stockholm 1955, ‘Nuorta suomalaista taidetta’ (‘Modern Finnish Art’), Stockholm and Gothenburg 1953, ‘Suomalaista nykytaidetta’ (Contemporary Finnish Art’), Lund 1957, and shows with the Finnish Artists' Association, Helsinki 1958 and 1959.
His works are in held in the public collections of Nordic museums including the National Museum in Stockholm, and the Atheneum in Helsinki, and foreign institutions including the Cincinnati Museum, and the Leningrad Museum.
Somersalo passed away on September 9, 1966 in Helsinki.