I just found this lovely painter!

Elin Danielson Gambogi came from a farming background in Finland.
Her father committed suicide but although  this made the family hard up she was able to get an art education.

 

She studied in Paris and Italy.

 



 

 

 Eventually aged thirty six she married Gambogi who was thirteen years her junior

 

These delicate domestic pictures are delightful.

The couple had no children and she continued to paint after her marriage which was not often the case for women artists .Karen Larsson for instance gave up her career to be a full time mother although she put her talents into textile design and needlework.

I particularly like this self portrait which shows her beauty and character and a hint of humour.

I love the intimacy of this painting of the women reading and sewing together.

 

While they were living in Italy Gambogi had an affair and Elin left him ,she went back to Finland.It was the first sign of a mental health problem in her husband.

 

 

She continued to paint.

 

Another self portrait

 

Later the couple tried to mend their marriage and when it became clear that her husband's illness

was worsening she returned  and cared for him.

I like this composition and  and the haze of the beach.

She treats her subjects with delicacy.

This little girl reminds me of my friend Karen. 

 She died in1919 of pneumonia.

 

The couple in the lamplight intrigue me,what is he playing to her?
Elin's work has moved me and I would like to find out more about her but I can only come up with very basic facts.A biography is needed!