◧ Artist: Helene Schjerfbeck (1862 - 1946)
◧ Country: Finland
◧ Title: [The Convalescent]
◧ Medium: Oil painting on canvas
◧ Painting Size: 92 × 107 cm
◧ Country: Finland
◧ Title: [The Convalescent]
◧ Medium: Oil painting on canvas
◧ Painting Size: 92 × 107 cm
◧ Museum: Ateneum, Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki
◧ Country of Stamp Issue: Finland
◧ Date of Issue: March 8, 1991
◧ Face Value: 2.10+0.50 Finnish Markka
◧ Issued as a part of "Pro Filatelia 1991"
▷━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◁
The subject of a sick child is common in late 19th-century art, and is especially favored by female artists. For Helene Schjerfbeck, however, the subject was personal.
Schjerfbeck empathized with the child as she made the act, as she was badly injured as a little girl, and her childhood was filled with illness. The accident caused a serious hip injury that made it difficult to move permanently.
Still, Schjerfbeck describes hopefulness in [The Convalescent(Toipila)].
The branch held by the girl is a symbol of new life. The title of the work also says that a sick child is healing. The bright light of spring floods the room and the girl's face. The light brings out the white clothes and is reflected from the glass objects on the table. The other items in the room are the artist’s tools: an ink pen and bottle, books and papers, a red pencil wiper, and a drawing briefcase under the table. (excerpt from painting description from Ateneum)
Available at 
Stamps / Arts and Prints
