Albert Edelfelt: Shepherds Worship The Child Jesus, 1892

Albert Edelfelt (1854-1905) was a Finnish painter noted for his naturalistic style and realist approach to art. He lived in the Grand Duchy of Finland and made Finnish culture visible abroad. He is considered one of the most notable artists of the Golden Age of Finnish Art. He began his formal studies of art in 1869 at the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Society and continued as a student of Adolf von Becker. He studied history painting at the Antwerp Academy of Art and was one of the first Finnish artists to achieve international fame.

In Finland, he was one of the founders of the Realist art movement, and influenced several younger Finnish painters. Edelfelt spent time in Antwerp and Paris, where he learned the practice of en plein air painting. He had come to a liking of en plein air because it was noticeable that illustrating contemporary reality rather than historical scenes were becoming popular during that time period. He took on a focus towards naturalism and his paintings gave a direct reflection of the Finnish countryside and lifestyle.

He focused on history painting in the beginning of his career, and also painted portraits of many famous people, including the renowned French biologist, microbiologist, and chemist Louis Pasteur. The 1885 portrait is the most reproduced image of the scientist himself because it is unlike the many other typical portraits of Pasteur where he is sitting plainly, rather this specific portrait paints him engaging with his environment and using the modern-day tools of his time.

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HC-1375: card size 7" x 5" (178mm x 127mm)