Emil Wikström

Emil Wikström studied at Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Training under Carl Jahn, Fredrik Ahlstedt and Henri Chapu is recorded. The recorded working language is Finnish and Swedish. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are portrait. Places of work recorded in the authority are Visavuori, Helsinki and Turku. Residence is recorded at Visavuori. Works named in the authority record are Lyhdynkantajat. Work by Emil Wikström is recorded in the collections of Finnish National Gallery, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Serlachius Museums, Turku Art Museum and Tampere Art Museum. Distinctions recorded are Ducat Prize, Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, Knight of the Legion of Honour and Order of the Three Stars, 3rd Class.

• Name — Emil Wikström • Born — 13 April 1864 • Birthplace — Turku, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire (now Finland) • Died — 26 September 1942 • Place of death — Helsinki, Finland • Field — Sculpture

• Illustration — Portrait of him in his Paris atelier by Dora Wahlroos, his fiancée in 1892 • Illustration — Wikström in 1893 His parents were construction foreman Johan Erik Wikström and Gustava Samuelintytär Linnamäki. Emil Wikström studied art in Finnish Art Association's drawing school in Turku and Helsinki, in the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and also in Académie Julian in Paris. Wikström as well as other artists took inspiration for their art from their own country's cultural mythology. Finnish artists studied and worked in Paris. Some decided to retreat to the peace of the forest, as Wikström wrote in a letter to Axel Gallén in 1898. Wikström was the first to carry out his plan and found ideal place for himself in Sääksmäki by Vanajavesi. • Illustration — Wikstörm working in Visavuori in 1932 Emil Wikström sculpted most of his work in Visavuori, his home and studio in Valkeakoski. Wikström was one of the most important Finnish sculptors of his time. Best remembered for his public monuments in Helsinki, the statues at the railway station, and other cities across Finland, Wikström produced portraits of many statesmen, politicians, businessmen, family and friends, as well as figures from Finnish mythology. • Illustration — Representatives of the Association of Finnish Sculptors put down a wreath by his coffin, 2 October 1942 He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki. Visavuori was opened to the public as a museum in 1967. There, many of the original casts and studies are on display.

In 1890, he got engaged to painter Dora Wahlroos and they studied arts at Paris together. However, they drifted apart and in 1895 Wikström married Alice Högström (1863–1950). They had three daughters: Estelle, Anna-Liisa and Mielikki Anne-Marie. Estelle's son Kari Suomalainen was a famous cartoonist, and her daughter Saskia (Maaria Eira) was an opera singer and director.