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.
Stories
Originally the work of art by young Ilmari, who studied at the Ateneum, consisted of five parts. When the Kaustinen youth association house had to be torn down to give way to the Pelimannitalo (“folk musicians’ house”), two parts of the mural were lost or destroyed. This may have happened because the youth association house was used for various activities and, for example, wrestlers touched these paintings when passing by the stage. The ‘fair virgin’, in particular, was treated carelessly by the wrestlers.
The entire work was in poor shape in 2015, until the Virkkala Tradition Association had it restored by a conservator.
Photos
Kylväjä (Sower)
Vala (Oath)
Tuonelan virran ylitys (Crossing the Tuonela River)
