"The essential characteristic of Symbolist art is never to fix an idea conceptually or to express it directly". These words of the French poet Jean Moréas from the "Symbolist Manifesto" of 1886 characterize the relationship Hugo Gerhard Simberg had with his works - especially with his most famous painting "The Wounded Angel". It shows an angel with wounded wings, seated on a wooden stretcher, being carried by two boys along a path through the Finnish landscape. The landscape depiction was inspired by Töölönlathi Bay in Helsinki. Simberg fell ill with meningitis in 1902 and spent months in a deaconess hospital there. During this time he often walked along its shores. He struggled with all his might to recover so that he could complete his painting. When it was first exhibited in 1903, he received many questions about it: What happened to the angel? Why is he injured? Where are the boys taking him? Did they hurt the angel? What does the painting mean? Simberg did not answer these questions.
In Simberg's view, looking at paintings is not about reflection and searching for meaning. It is unnecessary to know what the artist might have been thinking while painting or what might have happened before a depicted scene. Painting serves to trigger feelings. It does not matter whether the painting is artistically perceived as good, bad, beautiful or ugly. Only the sensation is important - whether it is sad, happy or of a different nature. Therefore, a painting cannot be interpreted correctly or incorrectly. Each person views a painting in a personal way. In 2006, Finns voted "The Wounded Angel" as the most popular painting in their country. The Ateneum Museum in the Finnish National Gallery initiated the nationwide public vote. Participants were able to give reasons for their choice. The majority opinion was that the "Wounded Angel" is a beautiful painting that is always thought-provoking. More than 100 years after its creation, new interpretations were put forward. Perhaps it is a symbol of the Finnish struggle for independence, the vulnerability of Töölölanthi Bay or nature in general? Simberg himself, in accordance with his convictions, had not even given the painting a title. For the first exhibition catalog he gave the name "Wounded Angels" only in the sense of a suggestion or description.
Stylistically, Simberg was already assigned to Symbolism during his lifetime. Many of his motifs depict scenes with allegorical figures such as death, frost or the devil. The Finns originally found it difficult to accept Simberg's form of expression. Together with fellow painter Magnus Enkell, he was commissioned in 1904 to decorate the interior of St. John's Church in Tampere. For this, Simberg transferred "The Wounded Angel" and his watercolor "The Garden of Death" into large format. For the wall fresco "Bearers of the Vines" he designed the twelve disciples of Jesus as naked boys carrying garlands of foliage. Under the ceiling dome he placed a snake surrounded by angel wings with a plant germ in its open mouth. Churchgoers reacted with shock at the consecration in 1907. Today, Tampere Cathedral is considered a total work of art and one of the highlights of Finnish artistic creation.
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.jpg "The Garden of Death by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Wounded Angel by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Garden of Death by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Towards the Evening, 1913 by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Self-Portrait by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Death and the Potato Peeler by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Bathhouse - Sauna - is Heated. Description According to Sources by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Devil on the Swing by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Auntie")
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.jpg "Orb-weaver Spider, Two Sketches for Tampere Cathedral by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Madness by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Dance of Death, 1899 by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Death and the Peasant by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Death and the Peasant by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Swan Song by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Devil Blowing by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Moon is Rising by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Dance on the Quay by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Beach, Niemenlautta by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Devil in the Rose Bush by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "On the Shore by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Garland Bearer; Boy Carrying the Garland of Life by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Spring Evening, Ice Break by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Orb-weaver Spider, Sketch for Tampere Cathedral by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Sketchbook by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Fear in the Woods by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Portrait of Inge Simberg by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Sheep in Line by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Head of a Girl by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Head of a Boy by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Autumn I by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Mountain Stream in Caucasia by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Poor Devil by the Fire; The Devil by the Pot by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Man with a Red Moustache by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "A Girl Reading by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Auntie; The Artist")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Fairy Tale I by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Boy Carrying the Garland of Life by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Towards the Evening by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Garland Bearer; Boy Carrying the Garland of Life, Study for the Tampere Cathedral Fresco by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Winter Road II by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Vision by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Witch at the Stake by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Churchgoer; Old Woman by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Gallen-Kallela Skiing by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Gallen-Kallela with His Pipe by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Broom Granny by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "At the Crossroads by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Wounded Angel, landscape study by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Winter Landscape by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Shore View from Koivisto by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Fairy Tale by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "At the Piano by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Artist")
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.jpg "The Peasant and Death at the Gates of Heaven by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Autumn II by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Boy on the Meadow by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Barn in Winter by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Travel Companions by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Homeward Bound by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Wood-Grinding Machine at the Kymi Factory in Kuusankoski by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "In Thought by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Garden of Death by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "On the River of Life; The Stream of Life by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "In the Rocking Chair, Anni Bremer by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Fairy Tale II by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Homeward Bound by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Garland Bearers II by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "In the Studio by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Mountain Stream in Caucasia by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Flowers for Her by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Portrait of Otto Donner by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Children in Costume on the Porch of the Andersin Villa, Gadd")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "At the Sewing Machine by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "A Farmer Standing by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Fantasy by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Autumn in the Forest by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "For Thy Sake by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "The Farmer")
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.jpg "Dream by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Untitled by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Bathing Cabin by Hugo Simberg")
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.jpg "Woman Thinking by Hugo Simberg")
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