Lot 224
  • 224

Alvar Aalto

Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Alvar Aalto
  • Alajärven Kirkko - Alajärvi Kyrka (church at Alajärvi)
  • oil on canvas
  • 52 by 31.3cm., 20½ by 12¾in.

Provenance

Sale: Hagelstam Huutokaupat, Helsinki, December 1999, lot 470
Purchased by the present owner at the above sale

Exhibited

Helsinki, Amos Andersen, Alvar Aalto. Taiteilija-Konstnären-The Artist, 1998
Alajärvi, Nelimarkkamuseo, The Arctic Aalto, 1998
Helsinki, Designmuseo, Suomalaisen funktionalismin mestari
2004

Condition

Original canvas. There are no signs of retouching visible under ultraviolet light. Apart from scattered spots of surface dirt and some spots of discoloured varnish visible to the naked eye, the work is in good overall condition. There are scattered pinhead-sized spots of paint loss, chiefly due to the thickly-woven nature of the canvas and the heavy impasto. Held in a simple, modern, brown and silver-painted moulded plaster and wood frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Painted in the 1920s, the present work shows the church at Alajärvi, built by the German Neo-Classical architect Carl Ludvig Engel circa 1836-41. Aalto's fondness for the building is evident in his appreciation of it that he submitted with accompanying drawings to the journal Kerberos in 1921. He wrote:

'The beautiful church here is by C. L. Engel, and it rests nobly among the verdure... when I am leaving the church, I feel what a complete human being I am, well-meaning and chemically free from sin. For a moment one has received the gift of seeing the beautiful in everything' (quoted in Göran Shildt, Alvar Aalto. His Life, Jyväskylä, 2007, p. 154).

Aalto's family had a summer house in Alajärvi, and took up permanent residence there in 1918. The renovation of the house during the following year was Aalto's first recorded architectural assignment. In subsequent years he produced designs for the Old Municipal Hospital, the clubhouse for the Defense Corps, the graveyard for the fallen of the Great War, the renovation of the Alajärven Osuuskauppa, and the home of his brother Väino, Villa Väinöla.

Best known for his pioneering position as a central figure of Nordic Modernism, Aalto's range of activity embraced the areas of furniture and glassware designs, architecture and painting. Ground-breaking in its modernism, his work in each field had its roots in a traditionalism springing from the physical environment and cultural heritage of Finland.