JUHANI LINNOVAARA. "Family portrait", signed and dated -73, oil on canvas.

195x150 cm
Exhibitions:Hyvinkää Art Museum: Juhani Linnovaara, 3.1.-20.1.1985; Juhani Linnovaara - Works from five decades:
Lapinlahti Art Museum 11. 6.- 31. 8. 1998;
Tikanoja Art House, Vaasa 8.1. - 24.2. 1999;
Aine Art Museum, Tornio 5.3. - 30.5.1999.
Kouvola Art Museum 18.6. - 29.8. 1999.
Joensuu Art Museum 9.9. - 3.10. 1999; Helsinki Festival of the Year 1978; Helsinki Art Hall 16.8. - 3.9. 1978; Turku Art Museum 8.9. - 8.10. 1978; Tampere Art Museum 15.10. - 5.11. 1978; Amos Anderson Art Museum 21.11. 2003 - 11.1. 2004; Hämeenlinna Art Museum 20.1. - 12.4. 2004; Porvoo Art Association 40 v.
Vanha Kappalaisentalo 14.7. - 27.8. 2006; Didrichsen Art Museum 3.9.2011 – 29.1.2012

Rolando Pieraccini: Juhani Linnovaara paintings 1953-2003, The Lauttasaari Press, pages 140 & 217.
Juhani Linnovaara was a versatile artist who worked in various media, including painting, printmaking and jewellery. He is known for his abstract expressionist style and his use of bold colours and shapes.

Linnovaara studied at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki from 1951 to 1955. He made his exhibition debut in 1956 and became recognised in the Finnish art world in the 1960s. Linnovaara's work has been widely exhibited in Finland and internationally. He won a prize at the Paris Biennale and represented Finland at the Venice Biennale in 1970. His work is in many public collections, including Kiasma in Helsinki and Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

Linnovaara's early paintings often depicted landscapes, cityscapes and still lifes, after which he gradually shifted to a more gestural and expressive style. His later works often feature large, sweeping brushstrokes and vibrant colours. The humorous, semi-abstract figures in the spirit of pop art are very familiar to Finnish audiences.

Stockholms Auktionsverk has been honoured to sell 4 significant works by Linnovaara from a private Finnish collection. "Gate to the Unknown" and "Movement in an Enclosed Space" are paintings with familiar motifs in Linnovaara's production, but with much more colourful forms than usual. Two of the paintings, "Holiday" and "Family Portrait", are among the largest sold on the auction market, measuring 195 cm in height. Holiday belongs to a series of paintings Linnovaara painted in the late 1970s with motifs from Coney Island in America. The painting "Family Portrait" has been exhibited many times and is considered one of the most important works from the 1970s. The humorous approach is a common thread throughout Linnovaara's production, and in these two paintings in particular, the dog sitting on the beach and in the portrait is an example of Linnovaara's discreet wink to the viewer.