Background

Hugo Gerhard Simberg was born on June 24, 1873 in Hamina, Kymenlaakso, Finland, the son of Colonel Nicolai Simberg and Ebba Matilda Simberg (born Widenius). He had a twin brother Paul. The marriage was the father’s second, and, in addition to the parents and the boys’ sister Mathilda, the family community also included four children from the father’s previous marriage as well as the father’s sister, Alexandra, and the maternal grandmother.

Education

In 1891, at the age of 18, he enrolled at the Drawing School of the Viipuri Friends of Art, and also studied at the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Association (Suomen Taideyhdistys), but in 1895 decided to become the private pupil of Akseli Gallen-Kallela at his wilderness studio Kalela in Ruovesi. Between 1895 and 1897 he studied with Gallen for three periods.

Career

In 1896 Simberg went to London, and in 1897 to Paris and Italy. During these years he exhibited several works at the Finnish Artists' autumn exhibitions, including 'Autumn, Frost', 'The Devil Playing Music' and 'Aunt Alexandra' (1898), which were well received. Critical success led to his being made a member of the Finnish Art Association, and to his being appointed to teach at the Drawing School of the Viipuri Friends of Art.

The two characters Simberg used most frequently for his art are the "Poor Devil" and Death personified.

Simberg's paintings emphasize mainly topics macabre or supernatural.

Simberg was a print-maker and photographer as well as a painter. One of his early photographs, named 'Guido, Fish Boy', shows a boy sitting on a rock, looking out to sea.

In 1904 he was commissioned to decorate the interior of Saint John's church in Tampere (now Tampere cathedral), a project which he carried out with Magnus Enckell between 1904 and 1906.

From 1907 to 1917 Simberg taught at the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Association. He died at Ahtari in 1917.

Achievements

• By the time of his memorial exhibition in 1918, Simberg’s importance was universally recognised and the similarities between his art and that of medieval and early Renaissance masters were pointed out. Since then, Simberg and his art have fascinated every new generation of viewers.

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Autumn II

    1895

  • Boy from Sakkijarvi

    1897

  • Death Listens

    1897

  • Devil by the Pot

    1897

  • Homeward Bound

    1901

  • King Hobgoblin Sleeping

    1896

  • Man with Red Moustache

    1903

  • Mountain Stream in Caucasia

    1899

  • On the Stream of Life

    1896

  • Round Dance

    1898

  • Self-Portrait

    1907

  • Spring Evening During the Ice Break

    1897

  • The Artist's Aunt

    1898

  • The Garden of the Dead

    1896

  • The Wind Blows

    1897

  • The Wounded Angel

    1903

  • Tuonelan Portilla

    1898

  • Two passengers

    1901

  • Waiting for Dawn

    1895

  • Winger Dance

    1903

Membership

He was a member of the Finnish Art Association.

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• Gallen-Kallela wrote that Simberg had a ‘quite wonderful gift, completely in the character of the Old Masters of the thirteen or fourteen hundreds. And it is a genuine, not affected, naivety. His works seem like sermons that everyone must listen to, and they stick in the memory.’

Connections

After getting married at the age of 36, Simberg dedicated himself to his family with the same zeal as he had dedicated himself to art.

Father:

Colonel Nicolai Simberg

Mother:

Ebba Matilda Simberg