Hjalmar Hagelstam on Odd Nerdrum, Rembrandt, Florence Academy and the Failure of Finnish Painting | ✨ Featured

The young draughtsman and painter from Finland has proven his talent with narrative portraits from live model. 

Aiming for the Classical Greek ideal, Hjalmar Hagelstam is already well-equipped, having studied  painting with Odd Nerdrum and sculpture at the Florence Academy Growing up in a country known for Sibelius and Gallen-Kallela, Hagelstam  asks the following question: 

"Which lessons can we learn from the strange fate of 19th century Finnish painters?" 

As he sees it, they were rightfully concerned with Kalevala, the native, mythical epic. However, their political desire to find something "national" in it, invariably led to failure. Making matters worse, influence from contemporary ideas of "progress" and styles like symbolism and impressionism only further removed their work from a truly timeless context. 

So what makes a universal story? And could you grip the essence of a myth by simply illustrating it?  

Chapter markers: 

00:30 Introduction

01:22 Does Finnish painting exist?  

02:20 How Hagelstam got interested in painting 

05:06 The free art school and Odd Nerdrum  

07:39 What Hagelstam saw at the auction house 

09:14 FAA, storytelling and being close to nature 

13:27 Intuitive vs "rational" painting method 

17:43 Props: contemporary or timeless?  

21:34 Naturalism and symbolism — pitfalls and strengths 

28:21 Rembrandt & Greeks: Shame, forgiveness, elevation 

34:16 Empathy & drama vs "everyday" motifs  

41:47 Experience life to become a good painter?  

45:26 Munch's Sick Child and Rembrandt's Prodigal Son 

52:36 Calmness vs action and combining opposites  

58:19 "The Poor Fisherman" and The Squint Test 

1:02:39 Do not just illustrate the title 

1:06:55 One can only set a great example 

1:09:54 Recommending Florence Academy of Art?  

1:11:36 How to become more mythical in your motifs?

🎵 Listen to this 🔥 interview and all other episodes:
https://caveofapelles.com/podcast

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Best wishes from the producer,
Bork Nerdrum