Reidar Särestöniemi
Paintings 25.9.-11.12.2011
Reidar Särestöniemi (1925-1981) is one of the best known Finnish
artists and was the most remarkable Lappish artist of his time. He was
born the seventh and youngest child in the family of Alma and Matti
Kaukonen in Kaukonen village, Kittilä. The family, who later changed
their name to Särestöniemi, earned their living by agriculture and
reindeer farming.
Särestöniemi studied first at the Finnish Art Society's Drawing
School in Helsinki (1947-1951), then at the Academy of Fine Arts in
Helsinki (1951-1952), and finally at the Ilya Repin Institute in
Leningrad (1956-1959). His career got off to a start in 1959 when he
held his first solo exhibition in Helsinki after returning from
Leningrad. Another significant moment was to come fifteen years later
when he was awarded an honorary professorship as an appreciation of his
life's work. Reidar Särestöniemi was a colourful character who in his
time prompted plenty of discussion of his art and personality.
Apart from his years of study, Reidar Särestöniemi spent all his
life at the family farm. The natural world surrounding him in Lapland
and local people with their beliefs and stories affected Reidar deeply
and gave his art its content and strength. Peatlands and fells, willow
grouse, lynx, rams and reindeer are frequent motifs in his works. Often
an animal figure symbolises the person of the artist himself.
The Lappish countryside gave Särestöniemi not only motifs, but
perhaps the most notable element of his art, its strong colours. He kept
exploring colours and the opportunities they offered throughout his
career. This was not always unproblematic, as such use of colour as
Särestöniemi's was unusual in Finnish art in the 1960's and 1970's and
often led to intense criticism.
Although Lapland was a major inspiration for Särestöniemi, his art
has been seen as been influenced from other directions, such as by the
great names of European modernism, by Russian art, and prehistoric cave
paintings, to name a few. The Lappish influence strengthened in
Särestöniemi's art as time went on. His works from the 1950's differ
from his most well-known works, the large and colourful oil paintings
from the 1960's and 1970's.
