Helene Schjerfbeck's (1862-1946) artistic career spans a period of almost seventy years, developing from historic painting to "plein-air" realism; from painterly still lifes and figures to intensely expressive self-portraits. Although as a young woman she traveled abroad (often to Paris), she lived in virtual isolation from the main centers of artistic activity for most of the last forty years of her life. She nonetheless experimented boldly 

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with reductive color and angular, stylized lines, and incorporated elements of Cubism and Expressionism. Ellen Thesleff (1869-1954) studied in Helsinki and later lived in Paris, Florence, Venice, and Rome. In addition to paintings, Thesleff's works include drawings, prints, and woodcuts. Enjoying a successful career, Thesleff's radical use of color and abstract rhythms placed her and Schjerfbeck into an early class of avant-gardists, departing early on from the portrayal of narrative-like content. Both were also driven by a profound awareness of the international art of their time, with the first signs of painting inspired by Wassily Kandinsky appearing in Finland in Thesleff's art. Thesleff's friend and a noted art critic, Sigrid Schauman (1877-1979) was an intense researcher of color. She freely experimented with the application of paint on canvas and became familiar with Orphic Cubism through Sonia and Robert Delaunay, whom she befriended in Paris. Elga Sesemann (1922-2007) was greatly influenced by Expressionism and Surrealism. Sesemann painted portraits, cityscapes, and solitary figures, characterized by a spontaneous and wild style. Experimenting with form through color, and utilizing the strong, brusque mark of the palette knife, Sesemann created a fully original oeuvre.