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66. JUHANA BLOMSTEDT "From Sketch to Finished Painting",
8 May - 12 September 1993

For its 1993 summer exhibition the Sara Hildén Art Museum presented paintings and drawings from 1964-92 by the Finnish artist Juhana Blomstedt (b. 1937 Helsinki). The exhibition was on display in three galleries on the upper floor.

Art historians have traditionally been interested in researching the way in which a work of art develops through its various stages, from initial sketch to finished painting. The public, too, have shown interest in the creative process of a work of art. In principle this question is linked with the way in which an artist's most recent works are related chronologically to his or her earlier production.

The exhibition "From Sketch to Finished Painting" deals with fundamental questions behind the creation of Juhana Blomstedt's works. Blomstedt characteristically makes numerous notes and pencil sketches and shows a readiness to analyze his own artistic way of working. The sketches on display reveal the figurative motifs and themes from nature that form a background to Blomstedt's "abstract" painting. In this respect the exhibition touches on general questions concerning the existence of abstract art. Juhana Blomstedt's works are often produced in a series, and certain themes tend to return and become topical once again even after quite a long time; this exhibition, for this reason, shed much light on the artist's overall oeuvre.

The exhibition was made up of three types of material. The first group comprised Blomstedt's works in the collection of the Sara Hildén Foundation; these 20 works were from different periods of the artist's production. The second group consisted of sketches and works in their initial stages, comprising a total of 150 drawings, small watercolour and gouache paintings as well as note books, all of which were associated with the first group of works. The third group was made up of all Blomstedt's most recent works, namely the Symposium series of 1992.

Works from the collection of the Sara Hildén Foundation were presented on the lower floor and in Gallery C on the upper floor.

Catalogue:
Juhana Blomstedt
1993, 87 pages
Sara Hildén Art Museum Publication 55 (Text in Finnish)
ISBN 952-9652-10-0
ISSN 0357-3001
Price FIM 40

14,115 visitors attended the exhibition.