Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck

Join us for an evening with Dr. Anna Maria von Bonsdorff (Museum Director at the Ateneum Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery), Dita Amory (Curator in Charge, Robert Lehman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art), and Patricia Berman (Feldberg Professor of Art, Wellesley College), as they discuss the work and life of Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck.

Beloved in Nordic countries for her highly original style, Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946) is relatively unknown to the rest of the world. Overcoming immense personal struggles and working in a remote location for decades, she produced a powerful body of work through sheer force of will.

Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck, opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on December 5th, is the first exhibition to showcase the work of the artist in a major United States museum. Featuring nearly 60 works—including generous loans from the Finnish National Gallery / Ateneum Art Museum, other Finnish museums, and private collections in Finland and Sweden—Seeing Silence illuminates Schjerfbeck as a valuable voice of modernism. In this lecture and discussion, speakers will reflect on Schjerfbeck’s oeuvre, life, and social context, offering perspectives on this important artist.