The abduction of Sampo 1905

Akseli Gallen-Kallela made “The Abduction of Sampo” with oil paint, rendering a scene filled with figures and the strong feeling of movement. Gallen-Kallela wasn't aiming for realism here, instead, he used visible brushstrokes to capture a sense of immediacy, letting us see the painting being made. The palette leans toward darker tones, blues and browns, but there’s a dynamism in the application of the paint, especially in the way he suggests the bodies struggling and the textures of wood and cloth. Take a look at the way he’s painted the central figures, their muscles and the straining of their arms, it’s like he’s pushing the paint around to match their efforts. The brushwork becomes a kind of choreography, leading your eye up and down the canvas. The Finnish Symbolist painter is often compared to Gerhard Munthe who, like Gallen-Kallela, turned to folklore and myth to inspire their work. Ultimately, like many artists, Gallen-Kallela invites us to lose ourselves in the story, and to find something new each time we look.