Walter Runeberg

Walter Runeberg
Portrait photograph of Walter Runeberg, 1870–1875
Born	Walter Magnus Runeberg (1838-12-29)29 December 1838 Porvoo, Grand Duchy of Finland
Died	23 December 1920(1920-12-23) (aged 81) Helsinki, Finland
Nationality	Finnish
Known for	Sculpture
Movement	Neo-classical
Spouse	Lina Elfving ​ ​ (m. 1867; died 1916)​

Walter Magnus Runeberg (Finland Swedish: [ˈrʉːnebærj]; 29 December 1838 – 23 December 1920) was a Finnish neo-classical sculptor.[1] He was the son of Finnish national epic poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg.[2]

Biography

Runeberg was born in Porvoo as the eldest son of J. L. Runeberg and his wife, Fredrika Tengström. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, and with sculptor Carl Eneas Sjöstrand.[1] From 1858 through 1869 he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen under Herman Wilhelm Bissen, acquiring a clear influence from the neoclassical style of Bissen's master Bertel Thorvaldsen.[1] He married Lina Elfving (1841–1916) in 1867. They had six children.[1]

With his wife Lina in Rome, 1868

Portrait by Gunnar Berndtson, 1879

After periods living and working in Rome (1862–1876) and Paris (1876–1893),[1][3] Runeberg produced many of Helsinki's best-known examples of monumental public art. The largest is the Alexander II Monument in Senate Square, a commission awarded jointly to Runeberg and sculptor Johannes Takanen, then completed by Runeberg after Takanen's death in 1885.[4] The pedestal features several allegorical figures. Notably, the figure representing Law is a version of the Suomi-neito, the Finnish maiden, here cloaked in bearskin.[5]

Runeberg was also frequently commissioned for private assignments. These include the bust of Ellan de la Chapelle in Paris in 1880, who became the wife of artist Albert Edelfelt in 1888.[6]

From 1893 to 1896, Runeberg worked in Copenhagen, Denmark.[7]

Runeberg in his studio, 1910s

He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.[8]

Runeberg family grave, Hietaniemi Cemetery, Helsinki

Works

Statue of Alexander II

• 
  Alexander III being shown a work-in-progress of the statue of Alexander II on 9 August 1885 at House of Nobility
• 
  Reveal of the statue of Alexander II on 29 April 1894 at Senate Square
• 
  The statue with its accompanying structure
• 
  The statue itself up close from the front
• 
  Alexander II from the side
• 
  Close-up from the front with Helsinki Cathedral's John the Apostle in the background
• 
  Statues at the bottom, with the four sides representing Law, Trade, Peace and Labor
• 
  Law
• 
  Trade
• 
  Peace
• 
  Labor
• 
  Model for Trade, called Science and Art
• 
  Model for Law
• 
  One of the two copies of Law displayed at the Presidential Palace (pictured in 2001)
• 
  The other copy at the House of the Estates

Other notable works

• 
  Ilmarinen Forging the Moon, 1866
• 
  Apollo and Marsyas at the entry lobby of Ateneum, 1874
• 
  1885 reveal of the statue of Johan Ludvig Runeberg, his father
• 
  Johan Ludvig Runeberg, with the Finnish national anthem Vårt land by him inscribed at the bottom[9]
• 
  Per Brahe Statue in Turku, 1888
• 
  Slightly larger version of the same Per Brahe statue in Raahe from the same year
• 
  Henrik Borgström monument, Taka-Töölö district of Helsinki, 1888
• 
  Two bronze Danaids in the Meilahti neighborhood of Helsinki, 1893
• 
  Allegorical figures on the exterior of the rotunda, National Library of Finland, with fellow sculptor Karl Magnus Mellgren [fi], 1905
• 
  Psyche carried by Zephyrs at the Presidential Palace, 1872

Kleobis and Biton on the facade of the Old Student House, Helsinki, 1878[10]

See also

• Art in Finland
• Golden Age of Finnish Art

References

1. Lindgren, Liisa (9 October 2006). "Runeberg, Walter (1838 - 1920)". Kansallisbiografia. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
2. "Walter Runeberg Collection :: The Saatchi Gallery". www.saatchigallery.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01.
3. "Walter Runeberg". Porvoo. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
4. "Helsinki City Art Museum: Public Art". 2014-02-02. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
5. Undressing the maid: gender, sexuality, and the body in the construction of the Finnish nation, Johanna Valenius, 2004, page 20
6. Vainio-Kurtakko, Maria (2022). Ett gott parti : Scener ur Ellan de la Chapelles och Albert Edelfelts liv (in Swedish). Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. ISBN 978-951-583-557-4.
7. Lindgren, Liisa (9 October 2006). "Walter Runeberg". Biografiasampo [fi] (in Finnish). Retrieved 22 January 2024.
8. "Hietaniemen hautausmaa – merkittäviä vainajia" (PDF). Helsingin seurakuntayhtymä. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
9. "ohan Ludvig Runebergin muistomerkki/ Johan Ludvig Runeberg's memorial". HAM Helsinki. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
10. "Kleobis ja Biton / Cleobis and Biton". HAM Helsinki. Retrieved 23 June 2020.