HELENE SCHJERFBECK. Poppies (1893), signed, oil on canvas.

31.5 x 33cm, 46 x 47cm
Poppies, 1893
Signed bottom right: HSchjerfbeck
Provenance: Finnish Art Society lottery prize 1894, winner Otto Donner; Saara Tamminen since 1932;
Joanna Lindberg since 1944; Christie's London 2002; current owner.
Ahtela 1953, no. 246
Ateneum 2012, no. 213
Finnish Art Society Spring Exhibition 1894, Helsinki, no. 67.
Helene Schjerfbeck painted flower motifs throughout her long career. For her, flowers were more
than just beautiful flowers, especially in her later years when their meaning was strongly tied to the
giver. For example, the shimmering effect in the 1920 painting Kieloja vinossa maljakossa (Lilies of
the Valley in a Tilted Vase) was influenced by her student Ann-Marie Häyrén’s mother, a
physiotherapist, who brought the flowers to Helene while she was recovering from an illness in
Tammisaari.
The Poppies painting was created by a young artist in good health, who was able to travel abroad
despite her physical limitations, taking on commissions to replicate masterpieces from the State
Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in 1892. In 1893, when the Poppies painting was created, she
made her northernmost trip to Finland with Maria Wiik and Ada Thilén to Kangasala. 
Remarkably, in the Poppies painting, the poppies seem to grow directly from the soil, in their natural
state. Schjerfbeck created another similar work, Kevätnarsisseja (Spring Daffodils), which was also
painted with flowers in their natural form. Typically, her flower motifs were in vases or indoor pots,
as moving in nature became more difficult for her over the years.
In this painting, the poppies fill the entire canvas, reaching beyond its edges. The flowers are also in
different stages of their life cycle—some have already formed seed pods, while others are at their
peak, with vibrant red petals. The painting is one of the most impressionistic works in Schjerfbeck’s
body of work, in terms of its colours, technique, and composition. The harmony between the sharply
defined flowers and stems, which softly blend into the surrounding space, is executed with great
delicacy, creating a sense of variety and space. The contrasts between the different shades of green
and red are skilfully controlled. The eye and mind can take many journeys while observing the
painting. The poppies form a kind of wreath around the green heart of the painting.
The poppy theme remained a part of Schjerfbeck’s work until the early 1890s. After that, she did not
revisit the motif, even though it became a favourite flower among her symbolist peers.
Leena Ahtola-Moorhouse.