Hugo Simberg

Hugo Gerhard Simberg (1873-1917) was a Finnish symbolist painter and graphic artist. For him Symbolism was the only way he could express his own internal world. His artistic ambitions met with little understanding. The only one who believed in him and supported him was his master, the painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela. He encouraged him even when he was publicly humiliated by others. His autumn exhibition of 1898 became a turning point in his life. Finnish critics began to take Simberg seriously. In 1898 he was accepted as a member of the Artists Association of Finland. Yet it was only after his death that the real importance of his work was recognised.