Elin Danielson-Gambogi Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Elin Danielson-Gambogi
Photographed in the 1880s
Born	Elin Kleopatra Danielson (1861-09-03)3 September 1861 Noormarkku, Grand Duchy of Finland
Died	31 December 1919(1919-12-31) (aged 58) Antignano, Italy
Nationality	Finnish
Known for	Painting
Movement	Naturalism (arts) and Realism

Elin Kleopatra Danielson-Gambogi (born September 3, 1861 – died December 31, 1919) was a talented Finnish painter. She is famous for her realistic paintings and portraits. Elin was one of the first Finnish women artists to get a professional art education. She was part of a special group called the "painter sisters' generation." Other artists in this group included Helene Schjerfbeck, Helena Westermarck, and Maria Wiik.

Biography
Legacy
Works
See also

Biography

Early Life and Art Studies

Elin Danielson was born in a small village called Noormarkku, near the city of Pori in Western Finland. She was the first child of Karl and Rosa Danielson. Her family came from a middle-class background.

Elin spent her early years on a family farm. However, her family faced difficult times, and they lost their farm. Her mother, Rosa, moved back to Noormarkku with her two daughters. Rosa worked hard at many jobs to make sure her daughters could get a good education. Elin grew up surrounded by strong women like her mother, aunt, and grandmother. This helped her become a very independent person.

When Elin was 15, she moved to Helsinki. There, she started studying art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki. She learned from famous teachers like Carl Eneas Sjöstrand and Hjalmar Munsterhjelm. In 1878, Elin also took classes with Adolf von Becker.

Time in Paris

In 1883, Elin Danielson received a special grant, which is like a scholarship for artists. This allowed her to move to Paris, France, which was a big art center at the time. In Paris, she took lessons at the Académie Colarossi. Her teacher there was Gustave Courtois. During the summer, she would travel to Brittany in France to paint.

A few years later, Elin returned to Finland. She lived with her relatives in Noormarkku and Pori. In 1888, she opened her own art studio, called an atelier, in Noormarkku. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, she also taught art at different schools across Finland. She also spent time at the Önningeby artists' colony, a place where artists gathered to work together.

Artists at Önningeby in 1886. From left to right in the front: Hanna Rönnberg, Hilma Westerholm, Elin Danielson, and Nina Ahlstedt. Behind them, sitting, is Fredrik Ahlstedt, and standing next to him is Victor Westerholm. Sitting on the ground in the back is Alex Federley, and standing behind him is J. A. G. Acke.

Mother, 1893, a painting of Elin's sister

Life in Italy

In 1895, Elin received another scholarship. This time, she traveled to Florence, Italy. A year later, she moved to a village called Antignano, near Livorno. There, she met an Italian painter named Raffaello Gambogi. He was 13 years younger than her.

Elin and Raffaello started working together and fell in love. They got married on February 27, 1898. They held art exhibitions in Paris, Florence, and Milan. Elin even won an art prize from the city of Florence! Their paintings were also shown at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, where Elin won a bronze medal.

In 1901, she won second place in a national portrait painting competition in Finland. In 1899, the King of Italy, Umberto, bought one of her paintings. That same year, she showed her art at the Venice Biennale, a very important art exhibition.

Elin faced some personal difficulties in her marriage. She moved back to Finland for a short time but returned to Italy in 1903. Because of World War I, it became hard for her to stay in touch with her home country, Finland. Elin Danielson-Gambogi passed away from pneumonia in Antignano in 1919.

Legacy

Elin Danielson-Gambogi is now seen as one of the most important artists from the Golden Age of Finnish Art. She was known for choosing unique and sometimes surprising subjects for her paintings. Her works were even shown in a special exhibit in 2018 called Women in Paris 1850-1900.