Kalevala Triptych

Folk Arts Centre Jyväskyläntie 3 Kaustinen

Ilmari Wirkkala had illustrated writer Teuvo Pakkala’s ABC-book already in his school years in Kokkola. When Ilmari was 18, his home municipality commissioned paintings from him for the stage of the new youth association house. Ilmari created a painting, consisting of five parts, in the spirit of the Finnish national epic Kalevala. Three parts have been preserved and placed in the lobby of the Kaustinen Folk Arts Centre.

Ilmari was the first Central Ostrobothnian graduate from the Ateneum art school. The triptych resembles Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s national romantic themes and shows Ilmari’s admiration for this icon of Finnish visual arts.