Start with Something – Following Picasso and Edelfelt

This week, we are using inspirational art as fuel for our own art. I show how I created my own version of Albert Edelfelt’s masterpiece by following the advice given by Pablo Picasso.

“Friends by Fate” is a small painting, but one of my favorites from the series that I made for the current exhibition. Because the title of the exhibition is Taiteilijat Edelfeltin tunnelmissa – Artists in the Mood of Edelfelt, I wanted to make my versions of some of Albert Edelfelt’s (1854-1905) artworks. For example, I made this one, and this one. “Friends by Fate” uses Albert Edelfelt’s painting “Women of Ruokolahti on the Church Hill” as inspiration.

This is a very famous painting in Finland. Even if Albert Edelfelt painted a lot of portraits of wealthy people to finance his profession, he became known for pieces like this that depict ordinary folk.

Start with Something!

I have always been intrigued by this Pablo Picasso’s (1881-1973) quote:

“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward, you can remove all traces of reality.”

In my opinion, this applies to any art, not just abstract. You can always start with something and then make your own version.

For example, even if there are people in Albert Edelfelt’s painting, it doesn’t mean that my version has to have them.

Start the painting with a similar composition, but then slowly let it grow in its own direction.

In my version, the flowers and plants replace the women, and the location is different too. I was thinking about the area where I live and how people gather together on a summer evening.

There was quite a lot of work in the details. Albert’s work is not clumsy, so I wanted mine to be well-finished too.

Following Picasso and Edelfelt

I love to paint so that flowers and plants are the characters of the painting. I feel I can combine my sense of humor with my yearning for beauty.

Flowers have given me a secret language that I can use to express anything. With this realization, I feel more and more drawn to the boldness of Pablo Picasso, the re-creator of Diego Velázquez’s 1656 masterpiece “Las Meninas”.

Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.

Albert Edelfelt was also appreciated in his lifetime, but he didn’t have the confidence that Picasso had. He wrote to his mother:

” I fear nothing else than that I become a raté – a half-talent and an unhappy person.”
(Free translation from Finnish)

This kind of seriousness is what I recognize too: puolilahjakkuus – half-talent – who would like to be that! But still – or maybe because of that, it’s good to embrace playfulness when creating art.

Like Edelfelt, you can recognize the fears and set the bar high.
But then, act like Picasso – Start with something and then ask: what could be and why not!