Finnish retro posters
At this page you can see some vintage posters from Finland by a famous Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931).
He was, and is, one of the most respected artists in Finnish art history. His most famous poster is the one below, Bil-Bol, made for
a car ad. All the retro posters at this page can be bought from the
Gallen-Kallela museum. The
site is also in English.
Bil-Bol poster.
The Bil-Bol poster is regarded as a classic of Finnish poster design. It was designed by Akseli Gallen-Kallela for Yrjö Weilin's car dealership in connection with the 1907 Automobile Exposition held in Stockholm. Weilin's red car was one of the first on the streets of Helsinki and riding with Weilin, Gallen-Kallela became fascinated with speed. In this poster the theme of the abducted maiden, familiar from the Kalevala, is transferred to the modern world and the idiom of contemporary technology.
Madonna poster. This is Gallen-Kallela's personal version of the old Madonna and child theme. In this painting the Virgin Mary is the artist's wife, Mary, and in the place of the Christ child there is the family's first-born, Marjatta. The painting dates from 1891, a year after the couple were married. In the background there are many peasant objects and tools that Gallén brought from his honeymoon trip to Russian Karelia. The dates from the early stages of so-called Karelianism, when Finnish artists journeyed east, seeking, like Gallén, the lands of the Kalevala epic and its rune-singer people.
Ad Astra.
Ad Astra (towards the stars) is one of the main works of Gallen-Kallela's symbolist period. Painted in 1907, it depicts the resurrection of the artist's own words. The pose is related to the position of the saviour of the world on the cross. It exudes a religious feeling, but in Gallen-Kallela's case his faith in art: Art and religion are very close to each other. I feel that there has been some kind of higher idea, a mystery, that has resided in the souls of me
. for which only art could give form, said the artist..
