ALBERT EDELFELT (FINNISH, 1854-1905)

In 1886 Albert Edelfelt climbed to the “peak of his international career” (Timo Huusko and Rainer Knapas, Albert Edelfelt, Helsinki, 2004, p.309). Having painted his iconic image of Louis Pasteur the year before, Edelfelt had a new audience. He now sought out more challenging artistic endeavours. In March 1886 he painted on the French Riviera, in April he met Emile Zola and began work on his celebrated impressionistic The Luxembourg Gardens, Paris (now in the collection of the Ateneum, Helsinki). In June he visited the country estate of the writer Henri Amic in Chantilly to continue working on this grand painting. Edelfelt had met Amic a year before in Malmö, on the train journey from Stockholm to Paris. We know from the letters shared between the artist and the writer that it was at Amic’s country house, Chateau des Bouleaux, where work on The Luxembourg Gardens, Paris was not moving at Edelfelt’s desired pace because he was so distracted by painting the flowering trees of Chantilly. A letter from the garden's to Alexandra, Edelfelt's mother, describes painting the flowering blossom. Notably, the surrounding trees play a key part in the composition of The Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, and in his studies for the palace and gardens, one of which is now in the Malmö Kunstmuseum. He would take this particular painting depicting a flowering Hawthorn tree back with him to Helsinki to display in his solo exhibition later in the year.