View source for Symposium (Gallen-Kallela)

{{Short description|Painting by Akseli Gallen-Kallela}}
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[[File:Gallen Kallela Symposion.jpg|thumb|right|''Symposium'' by Akseli Gallen-Kallela]]
[[File:Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Problem (Symposion) - Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation.jpg|thumb|Gallen-Kallela's sketch for the painting]]
'''''Symposium''''' (also known as '''Symposion''' and '''Problem''', {{langx|fi|Probleemi}}) is an oil painting created by [[Akseli Gallen-Kallela]] in [[1894]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-03 |title=Problem (Symposium) {{!}} Serlachius Museums {{!}} Pearl of the Month |url=https://serlachius.fi/en/problem-symposium/ |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=Serlachius |language=en-GB}}</ref>
The pictured gathering party consists of Finnish artists, who regularly had a meeting in the [[Hotel Kämp]] in [[Helsinki]], then in the [[Grand Duchy of Finland]]. The stylistic direction of the painting was the first example of a [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolist style]] by Gallen-Kallela.  The finished version is in a private collection, while the sketch is owned by the [[Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation]].
The term [[symposium]] derives from [[Greek language|Greek]], meaning a party of men with discussions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/symposium|title=symposium &#124; Etymology, origin and meaning of symposium by etymonline|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref>
The intended title during the working phase of the paintwork was '''Kajustaflan'''. Dual versions of the painting were created, the draft along with the final version.
The gentlemen on the [[caricature]] picture were then and still are well known Finnish intellectuals: from left the painter [[Akseli Gallen-Kallela]] himself, at that time Axel Gallén, composers [[Oskar Merikanto]] plus [[Jean Sibelius]] with [[Robert Cajanus]] who was the principal conductor of an orchestra.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sibelius.info/suomi/erikoisaiheet/yhteisot/symposium.html|title=Symposium-piiri|website=www.sibelius.info}}</ref>
They were members of a wide artistic circle of poets, writers, and other cultural individuals at the time.
==Reception==
After the painting became exhibited most of the Finnish audience and critics did not approve of it and the artist suffered public disapproval. The rest of the Symposium circle were also criticised for leading questionable lives. The reputation of [[alcoholism]] followed especially Sibelius.
Gallen-Kallela himself thought that the Symposium was a "bomb" whose "fragments will, of course, eventually fall on my own neck, but I think I can handle it".<ref name="auto"/>
==The Symposium circle==
The gentlemen in the painting belonged to a community of artists formed in the winter of 1892, called the Symposion circle.<ref name="auto"/>
The leading figurehead of the society was Kajanus, who was a decade older than the others, and in addition to him, Gallen-Kallela and Sibelius were prime members. The external members of the district also included other artists, musicians and writers.
In the conversations of circle, a renaissance of Finnish spiritual life starting from the north was sought, after Gallen-Kallela, new strength to replace the decadent decadence.
Public criticism eventually led to the dissolution of the Symposion circle, which did not meet again after [[1895]].<ref name="auto"/>
==References==
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{{Akseli Gallen-Kallela}}
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[[Category:1894 paintings]]
[[Category:Works based on European myths and legends]]
[[Category:Paintings by Akseli Gallen-Kallela]]
[[Category:Symbolist works]]
[[Category:Food and drink paintings]]
{{Avant-garde}}