Helene Schjerfbeck: Portrait of Helena Westermarck

Laura Kuurne, Head of Collections and ExhibitionsDescribed as “almost frighteningly realistic” and “unfeminine”, this painting by Helene Schjerfbeck was criticised by contemporary critics. The painting depicts Schjerfbeck’s friend, the painter Helena Westermarck, absorbed in her work at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Contemporary criticism can be understood when one remembers that at the end of the 19th century, the portrayal of women in art was largely dominated by men. Women were typically depicted in art as embodyments of virtue and beauty. The notion of a female artist as a thoughtful individual, critically assessing her own work was still rare.

Portrait of Helena Westermarck from 1884 is a true gem in the Serlachius’ collection. It is a favourite among many, and has been described as one of the finest artist portraits in Finnish art. Helene Schjerfbeck painted the work in the summer of 1884 in Paris. In the portrait, her friend, the painter Helena Westermarck, is concentrating on her work at the Paris Academy of Fine Arts.

TThe work is remarkably free and assured for such a young painter. The face, set in shadow, is rendered with confident strokes against a bright background. The painting conveys the focused and intense atmosphere, capturing the moment of creation.

Schjerfbeck and Westermarck had met at the Finnish Art Society’s drawing school, and their friendship lasted throughout their lives. Schjerfbeck was only 11 years old when she began her art studies in Finland, and in 1880 continued at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. There, Schjerfbeck and Westermarck learned to use broad brushstrokes and to depict unembellished subjects.

A sensitive and powerful portrayer of people

Schjerfbeck was a determined artist. At the end of the 19th century, historical paintings were among the most prestigious subject that women were not expected to paint. However, it was with them that Schjerfbeck began her career as an artist. She followed her own path and did not adhere to the national romantic style employed by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, for example, to construct an image of Finnishness. Nor did she immerse herself in the philosophy of symbolism, which was popular in the 1890s.

Instead, Schjerfbeck retired to Hyvinkää in the early 1900s and developed her own expression there. She removed any unnecessary elements from her paintings that did not lead to the interpretation she was aiming for. The depiction of people became sensitive and powerful, with thoughts and emotions playing the main role. However, no artist grows up in a vacuum. Schjerfbeck’s own style, known to the public, was also built on the art she had seen and absorbed in the museums of Paris.

The works touring exhibitions around the world

Schjerfbeck is one of Finland’s most beloved painters. Even during her lifetime, her works were exhibited in international exhibitions in Europe, especially in Sweden, where the art dealer Gösta Stenman organised exhibitions of her work.

It is Schjerfbeck’s works that are among those that many people expect to see in the Serlachius collection hanging. In his time Gösta Serlachius acquired eight paintings by Helene Schjerfbeck, one of which was a portrait of Helena Westermarck. Today, Serlachius’ collection includes 31 works by Schjerfbeck.

The Portrait of Helena Westermarck is one of the most popular works in the entire Serlachius collection and a work that is most frequently requested to borrow. The small painting has travelled extensively, having been included in 36 exhibitions, including Paris, New York, London, Washington and Hamburg, as well as in numerous exhibitions in Finland.

The work is part of Helene Schjerfbeck’s exhibition Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck, which is on show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (MET) in 5 Dec 2025–5 Apr 2026.

The model in the portrait, Helena Westermarck, rendered focused and “unfeminine”, gave up painting after contracting pulmonary tuberculosis in France. Westermarck, who was talented in many ways, later became a writer, journalist and women’s rights activist.

arrow_back arrow_forward