Under the birches CC0067 Albert Edelfelt Postcard

Albert Edelfelt was one of the first Finnish artists to achieve international fame. He enjoyed considerable success in Paris and was one of the founders of the Realist art movement in Finland. Under the birches (1881) is an example of something new in Edelfelt's paintings. Like his artist friends in Paris he had become more and more interested in 'plein-air' painting, the act of painting outdoors and reproducing the actual visual conditions seen at the time of the painting. The painting was carried out in Haiko in Finland and also shows some Scandinavian characteristics: the northern summer light and the somewhat melancholy expression of the model.