An exhibition on the work of the Finnish artist Beda Stjernschantz (1867-1910) is scheduled to open at the Amos Anderson Art Museum in February 2014. Beda Stjernschantz was an important member of the generation of Finnish Symbolist artists that emerged in the 1890s but art historical research on her work is insufficient, in part due to her limited oeuvre. Thus, The Birch and the Star and Amos Anderson Art Museum are organizing a one-day seminar to bring together researchers who share an interest in Beda Stjernschantz and the art and culture of the fin-de-siècle. The aim of the seminar will be to coalesce and interpret existing art historical knowledge pertaining to Beda Stjernschantz and to reassess the significance of her work in an international context. Interdisciplinary by nature, the seminar will act as a springboard for the exhibition and will hopefully open up new and interesting perspectives on the artist who has hitherto remained under the scholarly radar.

The seminar is open to the public but preregistration is required. Anyone wishing to attend should send an email to itha.oneill(at)amosanderson.fi by     3 April 2013.

For further enquiries, please contact Marja Lahelma, marja.lahelma(at)helsinki.fi.

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Programme

10–10.30 Registration

10.30 Welcome Speech: Museum Director Kai Kartio. Opening Words: Torsten Stjernschantz.

10.45 Juha-Heikki Tihinen, University of Helsinki

Tangible Elusiveness ­– Realized and Unrealized Artistic Ideas in the Oeuvre of Beda Stjernschantz

11.15 Asta Kihlman, University of Turku

“The unmoved eye and the look of eternity”

11.45 Nina Kokkinen, University of Turku

As an Initiate of Spiritual Art. Beda Stjernschantz’s Aphorism (1895) and Fin-de-siècle Occulture

12.15–13.15 Lunch break (not included)

13.15 Marja Lahelma, University of Helsinki

Beda Stjernschantz and the Timeless Ideal – Pastoral (Primavera) and Autumn

13.45 Bart Pushaw, University of Chicago

A Swedish Karelia?  Beda Stjernschantz’s Everywhere A Voice Invites Us

14.15 Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki

In search of sacred art  – Beda Stjernschantz and Anna Bremer on the Island of Vormsi 1895

14.45–15.00 Coffee break

15.00  Edyta Barucka, University of Warsaw

”I embrace the common…”: Beda Stjernschantz’s, Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s and Stanislaw Wyspianski’s botanical drawings

15.30 Salla Heino, Design Museum, Helsinki

Beda Stjernschantz’s Sketches for The Friends of Finnish Handicraft – Designing Finnish Textiles

16–17.30 Roundtable Talks

17.30 Cocktail Reception

Venue: Amos Anderson Art Museum, Yrjönkatu 27, 00100 Helsinki, Finland www.amosanderson.fi