Join curator Dita Amory, conservator Charlotte Hale, and expert Patricia Berman to learn about Helene Schjerfbeck’s artistic practice and the evolution of her career. Hear about the artist’s technical process and the importance of her work in the history of Nordic painting on the occasion of the first exhibition to showcase Schjerfbeck’s work in a major United States museum. Enjoy presentations followed by a discussion between Amory, Berman, and Hale.
Reevaluating Helene Schjerfbeck
Dita Amory, Robert Lehman Curator in Charge, The Robert Lehman Collection, The Met
This talk introduces an extraordinary modernist. Much appreciated in her native Finland, Schjerfbeck is a mystery to audiences outside the Nordic world. This brief introduction traces her life story as it introduces visitors to her mesmerizing paintings in an arc of seven decades.
“I want to paint a harsh painting with a strong expression.”
Charlotte Hale, Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge, Department of Paintings Conservation, The Met
This talk explores Schjerfbeck’s distinctive creative process through technical examination of The Lace Shawl, a recent acquisition by The Met.
Schjerfbeck’s Distances
Patricia Berman, Theodora L. and Stanley H. Feldberg Professor of Art, Wellesley College
Taking the painting The Tapestry as a starting point, this presentation examines Schjerfbeck's acts of contemplation and concentration in her turn toward synthetic forms: "…closer to the truth with a hint." The talk touches on her reduction of form and color, the circuit of desire established from the ambiguities in her visual extractions, and her insistence on the indirect glance.
