AKSELI GALLEN-KALLELA | View Over a Lake at Sunset

Gösta Stenman (probably acquired from the artist; a fragmentary label on the reverse)

Acquired in Helsinki by the family of the current owner in 1986; thence by descent

'The older I get, the more strongly I yearn [...] for light so powerful that the sun blackens, and for colours that sparkle and explode'

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Painted circa 1905. Although its setting has not yet been identified, Gallen-Kallela likely painted the present work sometime after his visit to Lake Keitele in summer 1904. On a personal level this journey brought renewal following an exhausting and intense period of travel. From this came the four versions of Lake Keitele, two in private collections, one in the Lahti Art Museum and one in the National Gallery, London. The expressive, freely painted cloud formations in the present work are emblematic of the artist's work at the time, as also visible in a canvas of near identical dimensions in the Gallen-Kallela Museum (fig. 1).