Landscape

Albert Edelfelt's 1889 Landscape at the Hermitage demonstrates the Finnish painter's ability to find in natural subjects the same sensitive attention he brought to his more famous figure paintings. Edelfelt was the first Finn to achieve international recognition, his Paris success opening doors for Finnish art in the wider European context. Late in his career his landscape work became more freely executed and atmospheric, reflecting the influence of Impressionism he had always observed but applied with Finnish restraint. The Hermitage's holding of this work reflects the long Finnish-Russian cultural connection of the Tsarist period.

The landscape is rendered with Edelfelt's mature atmospheric sensitivity — the specific quality of Finnish summer light captured with the observational care characteristic of his approach. His palette is warm and varied, the Impressionist influence more visible in this later work. Brushwork is more freely handled than his earlier, more controlled technique.