An Eagle-Owl Seizes a Hare

Peetu participated to a pet shop's puppy play date, this was his third time. This time other puppies were quite shy. 

In the afternoon we, all family, went to celebrate Aku's 17th birthday. Before youngsters went to meet their friends, I visited The night of the museums event with Emma and Leevi, we went to  Tampere Art Museum to see The brothers Von Wright exhibition. Today the museum was open till midnight, and it was full of people.
 
Magnus (1805–1868), Wilhelm (1810–1887) and Ferdinand von Wright (1822–1906) are famous of their skilled ornithological paintings, an art they perfected over many years of careful study and practice. Magnus and Ferdinand also ranked among the leading Finnish landscapists of their generation. Presenting over 80 works, the exhibition was co-produced with the Ateneum Art Museum / Finnish National Gallery.

The von Wright brothers grew up in a manor in Haminalahti, Kuopio. The brothers’ interest in nature originated in the hobby of hunting, as practised by their father, Major Henrik Magnus von Wright. Skilled hunters, the brothers began to document the birds they caught.

Through watching and painting birds over a long period of time, the brothers gained a wide knowledge of nature. Their works are characterised by detailed scientific accuracy. At the same time, their art conveys a special love of nature. The works reflect the aesthetic values of their time, the 19th century.

The eldest of the brothers, Magnus von Wright (1805–1868), known especially for his landscape paintings, was an influential cultural figure in Helsinki. He worked as a teacher at the University of Helsinki drawing school and as an expert at the Finnish Art Society, in which capacity he contributed to the establishment of the Ateneum collection. In his paintings of Helsinki, such as View from Katajanokka (1868) and Annankatu on a Cold Winter Morning (1868), he documented the changes taking place in the city.

Wilhelm von Wright (1810–1887) was active especially in Stockholm and on the island of Orust on the west coast of Sweden. He worked as a scientific illustrator for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Wilhelm assisted his brother Magnus in illustrating the book Svenska foglar, presenting Swedish birdlife: the work contains 182 coloured drawings, illustrating birds with scientific precision. According to today’s ornithologists, the illustrations created by the brothers are still accurate. Wilhelm suffered paralysis, which cut his career shorter than that of the other brothers.

The most famous, and youngest, of the brothers is Ferdinand von Wright (1822–1906). Ferdinand is known especially for his paintings of birds, such as The Fighting Capercaillies (1886) and An Eagle-Owl Seizes a Hare (1860) --- my blip photo is a detail of this painting. Ferdinand was one of the first visual artists in Finland to make a living from art. He enjoyed the longest career of the brothers, and later attained the status of an old master and earned respect from young artists.


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