Finnish Journeys Through Vitality and Depression: Uuno Eskola’s Self-Perception as an Artist and Social Climber

Abstract

Uuno Eskola (1889–1958) was a young Finnish artist and writer who saw himself as a misfit, not belonging to any fixed community or social class. As an artist, he was certainly an outsider. Like many other young male artists who started their careers in the first two decades of the twentieth century, Eskola came from a rural background and was the child of uneducated parents. However, he was an aesthete and a dandy who was aware of his good looks and often posed for photographs. His writings, which reveal a sense of insecurity and a desire for life, fluctuate between confidence and despair. His paintings, on the other hand, are characterized by imagery associated with agrarian nationalism. He painted both rural landscapes and works inspired by the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala.[i]

[i] Uuno Eskola. Taiteellisen veren viettelys, ed. by Pirjo Juusela-Sarasmo, Tatu Jännäri, and Laura Luostarinen (Salo taidemuseo Publications 26, 2016).