Mending fishing nets (Sauna Juonas, study for the painting "The first lesson")

Mending Fishing Nets (1887) by the young Akseli Gallen-Kallela is a study related to his large composition 'The First Lesson,' showing a woman identified as Sauna Juonas — likely a local Finnish fisherman's wife — engaged in the traditional work of net-mending. Gallen-Kallela was in the process of transforming Finnish painting, bringing the direct plein-air naturalism he had absorbed in Paris to Finnish subjects, and this study of outdoor labor reflects his concern with capturing genuine working life. The subject anticipates his later deep engagement with Finnish Karelian culture. The work is held at HAM Helsinki Art Museum.

The figure is placed in outdoor light, with the broad, loose handling of the study approach — capturing posture, light, and the rhythm of the working gesture rather than resolved detail. Gallen-Kallela uses a naturalistic palette of grays, blues, and warm skin tones suited to the overcast Finnish light.