Mike in Finland

Monday 16 May 2011

Homecoming


I got back from my trip to London yesterday. The reading in Swiss Cottage library was a very enjoyable event. Many thanks to Adele Ward and Abul Kashim for organising the event and to all those who came along to listen and to read their work in the open mic part of the evening. It was certainly a lively event.

As one part of my reading, I read from the scene where Len visits the Finnish National Gallery and views several works by famous Finnish artists. As these painters are often not well known outside Finland, except to people with a special interest in visual arts, I showed slides of the paintings Len describes. For anyone who has read, or is reading, the novel and who doesn´t know the paintings, they can be found on the Ward Wood website at this address:


Actually, they will be interesting for people who haven´t read the novel, too. If you don´t know these artists, they´re well worth getting to know.

Since the titles and artists are not given on the website, I´ll give them here, in order, starting from the top:

Albert Edelfelt: Boys Playing on the Beach, 1884.
Hjalmar Munsterhjelm: Forest Pond by Moonlight, 1881.
Ellen Thesleff: The Echo, 1891.
Helene Schjerfbeck: A Wounded Soldier, 1880.
Eero Järnefelt: Children Playing, 1895.
Verne Thomé: Boys Playing on a Sandy Beach, 1904.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Parisian Street Scene.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Rotting Fish, 1884.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Wild Angelica, 1889.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Marjatta by the Waterside, 1896.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Lemminkainen´s Mother, 1897.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Ad Astra, 1907.

I arrived home early on Sunday evening, just in time to watch Finland win the ice hockey world championships. I refrained from dancing naked in the town square in celebration, though, and a lot of people are very glad that I did.....refrain, that is.

2 comments:

  1. It was a great event, and lovely to see you again. Hope you had a good rest of your time in London!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Sue. Yes, I spent an enjoyable Saturday, wandering around, visiting bookshops and the Courtauld Gallery. I even had a beer!

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