Esteri (Essi) Renvall
Esteri (Essi) Renvall was a Finnish sculptor, active from the 1930s until her death in the late 1970s. Renvall is best remembered as a sensitive and colourful portraitist; among those she depicted with great likeness were artists, poets and other notable Finnish key figures in the cultural, political and economical life of the budding republic (Finland had declared its independence from Russia/the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1917). Renvall also produced numerous studies of children and depictions of elegant women, as well as working as a medal artist.
Renvall studied at the Finnish Art Society’s drawing school (from 1939 known under the name Finnish Art Academy School, and nowadays Academy of Fine Arts), Helsinki, from 1930 to 1932, and visited various European countries as well as Egypt, China, India and Nepal during her study trips. Renvall would subsequently also draw on the tradition of old Italian sculpture, going back to the Renaissance, thus approaching the relationship between modern and traditional art in a way that was characteristic of the times.
Renvall’s style was deemed suitable for public sculptures, and she consequently created several significant commissioned works, the most famous of which is the 5.35-metre-high Rauhanpatsas/Statue of Peace from 1968 (City of Helsinki Art Collection/HAM), beautifully located in Helsinki’s Eteläsatama (South Harbour), in the vicinity of the lush Kaivopuisto area (one of the oldest and best-known parks in central Helsinki).
Other major works by Renvall include the memorial to Uuno Kailas (1901–1933, Finnish poet, writer, and translator considered the most prominent Finnish poet of the 1930s) in Heinola, Finland (1948); the statue of Juhana Heikki Erkko (1849-1906, Finnish poet) in Lahti, Finland (1956); and the De profundis sculpture in The Holy Cross Chapel, Turku, Finland (1969).
In 1954 Suomen Trikoo Oy (a former company in the knitwear industry that used to manufacture and export large quantities of knitwear and knit fabrics, as well as socks and tights) donated, in commemoration of the company’s 50th anniversary, a public sculpture to the city of Tampere, Finland (where a majority of the company’s production was based). The commission was awarded Renvall, who created a partly gold-plated bronze statue, named Atlas-tyttö (Atlas Girl), in Marianpuisto Park (Maria Park), which was the centre point of three textile factories in Tampere. The striking statue still stands as a monument to all textile industry workers in the area.
Between 1933 and 1943, Renvall was married to Finnish sculptor Ben Renvall (1903–1979), she was awarded the prestigious Pro Finlandia Medal (an award that has been given to Finland’s foremost artists and writers since its inception in 1945) in 1959, and her memoirs, Nyrkit savessa (Fists in the Dirt), were published in 1971.
Renvall died in 1979 and is buried at Sandudds Cemetery in Helsinki.
Recently mounted solo exhibitions featuring Renvall’s work include, the extensive retrospective, Essi Renvall - Ihmisyyttä etsimässä / Essi Renvall - In Search of Humanity, which was shown at Oulu Museum of Art, Oulu, Finland (2016) and Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland (2016-2017).
Group exhibitions featuring Renvall’s work include Stories of Finnish Art – the Ateneum Collection on Tour, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Rovaniemi, Finland (2017); Stories of Finnish Art – the Ateneum Collection on Tour, Oulu Museum of Art, Oulu, Finland (2017); Stories of Finnish Art – the Ateneum Collection on Tour, Kuopio Art Museum, Kuopio, Finland (2017-2018); Urban Encounters / Finnish Art from the 20th Century, Ateneum Art Museum - Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki (2018–2019); The Modern Woman, Ateneum Art Museum - Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki (2022); and Happiness alone – the fates of writers, Artist’s Home Erkkola, Tuusula, Finland (2022).
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