PEKKA HALONEN – a nature mystic in search of harmony

62. PEKKA HALONEN (1865-1933), Winter in March, estimate 30 000 €

Pekka Halonen’s relationship with nature was deeply respectful, and his nature-themed works appear to embody multiple layers of meaning. Our Classic auction includes several paintings by Halonen, offering an opportunity to view his works in a broader context. Landscape subjects are central to his production, but instead of large scale panoramic views, he typically focused on the details of nature and more limited or intimate views. Flowing water and snow-covered forest scenes are recurring themes in Halonen’s work.

KIVIKOSKI IN KUHMOINEN

In 1916, Halonen first rented a cottage at Kivikoski in Kuhmoinen. He returned there almost every summer until he eventually purchased the site for himself. The auction works 53. Rapids and 98. The Rapids depict views painted at Kivikoski, where rushing water and reflections become the central motifs. The water studies painted at Kivikoski differ from those created on the shores of Lake Tuusula, where the more murky lake water appears calm and serene. Alongside flowing water, Halonen was fascinated by winter ice surfaces, which at times appear almost as non-reflective walls. In the work 97. Winter Landscape, the opaque, misty ice surface deliberately fills more than half of the pictorial space. The motif seems to revolve around a whirl formed by slush or snow.
Depictions of water were a popular theme in Symbolist art at the turn of the 20th century. The Symbolists understood landscape as an expression of a state of mind. Large, flat, matte-painted surfaces drew inspiration, among other sources, from early Renaissance fresco painting.

WINTER FOREST LANDSCAPES

Halonen also frequently depicted forests and trees. Regardless of weather or season, he preferred to paint his landscapes outdoors. On extremely cold winter days, he worked in four-hour intervals. This direct experience of nature is reflected in the sensitivity of his colour palette. In the auction work 62. Winter in March, a view opens into the interior of the forest, where the white snowdrifts are patterned with blue and violet shadows, complemented by the golden glow of the early spring sun. Halonen also painted quiet, intimate close-ups of snow-covered trees, where a sense of presence is concentrated. In the work 134. Wintry landscape, a gnarled pine is buried in a blanket of snow and has frozen into a snowstatue. In Halonen’s art, parallels have been drawn with Japonism, particularly in the use of narrow vertical formats, high horizons, asymmetrical compositions, the decorative treatment of water and trees, and shadowless, flat pictorial surfaces.

Fundamentally, Halonen took his art very seriously, and a year before his death he stated the following in an interview: “Art should not affect one like a scrubbing brush on exposed nerves; rather, it should offer peace. From my earliest youth I have never been able to understand art in any other way. I have never painted for others, only for myself. The search for peace and harmony through art has, so to speak, become part of my religion.” (Ville Lukkarinen, Pekka Halonen – Pyhä Taide, SKS, 2007, p.109.)

 

Text: Annika Adlercreutz

Litterature:
Pekka Halonen, Ateneumin taidemuseo, 2008.
Ville Lukkarinen, Pekka Halonen, Pyhä Taide, SKS, 2007.