Acclaimed in the Nordic countries, where she is regarded as one of the most important Finnish painters of the 20th century, Helene Schjerfbeck is considerably less well-known abroad. This show at the Met is the first major presentation of her work in the United States and spans the full range of her career, which started out with domestic scenes produced as a teenager in Helsinki and then the luminescent plein air works inspired by the French painting she encountered when she moved to Paris at the age of 18. In later life, Schjerfbeck spent most of her time in rural Finland and occasionally Sweden, where she developed a more pared-back style; the brooding, melancholic portraits she produced in the latter part of her career are some of the highlights here (5 Dec–5 Apr 2026).
Find out more from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website.
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