Finnish students of Rodin – Sigrid af Forselles and Hilda Flodin

Abstract

Sigrid af Forselles (1860–1935) became a student of Rodin in 1882 and helped the famous sculptor to create the composition "The Burghers of Calais". In 1901, Sigrid became the first Finnish female artist to be invited to the national Society of French artists. The most famous independent work by Forselles is the five-part relief "History of the human soul", four parts of which are located in the Kallio Church in Helsinki. Hilda Flodin (1877–1958) studied with Rodin from 1903 to 1906. She is known mainly as the author of the sculptural decoration of the building of the insurance company "Pohjola" in Helsinki. Flodin returned to Finland in 1906 and took up engraving, drawing and illustration. In 1907, she became the only female graphic artist to participate in the first exhibition of graphic artists in Finland. The fact of short-term apprenticeship Sigrid af Forselles and Hilda Flodin at Rodin is indicative as an example of the attractiveness of Paris in the late 19th – early 20th century for figures of Finnish culture.