Art in Aland

1986: Centenary of the Artists' Colony in Önningeby

A summer picnic what could be more delightful and this one is a gathering of artists.  Formed in 1886 an artists colony was born in the village of Önningeby around the Finnish landscape painter Victor Westerholm.  It was one of many Nordic artistic colonies in the late 19th Century inspired by the impressionists and painting outdoors. In 1884 Westerholm had bought a summer house in Önningeby by the Lemstrom Canal and encouraged his friends to join him in the Åland Islands to paint.  I think the postcard shows the first summer gathering of the eight friends in 1886 and over time the numbers would grow until with the coming of the first world war and the death of Westerholm in 1919 it came to an end.    

The stamp shows a drawing of 1891 by Victor Westerholm in indian ink depicting the scenery of  Önningeby.  It is said the area is not particularly scenic but the existence of many large farm houses meant there were lots of places for the artists to stay.  Today one of those farmhouses, the Jonesas Farm, has been converted into a museum and exhibits paintings by some of the artists who stayed in the colony, unusually for the time a large number of those artists were women.

1984 Maximum Card 5 "Åland among the Nordic Countries"

The village of Önningeby and its museum is vaguely in the area of my arrow above, 4 miles north east of Mariehamn. Victor Westerholm came from Turku on the coast of Finland, a 6 hour ferry journey away and the artists came from both Finland and Sweden so you can also see the ferry routes they would have taken.

I wonder if Åland Post took the ferry or flew to Turku

when they attended the Spring Postage Stamp and Postcard Show, their luggage would have included this Exhibition Card whose theme in 2017 was mail boxes, many of which are painted, the islanders letting their inner artist free.

The exhibition stamp shows the box in place (often they are hung in rows so you can just see the one next to it) with the exhibition cancel which as the Åland Islanders speak Swedish uses the Swedish name for Turku - Åbo.

This week's Sunday Stamps II prompt is the letter A - for Art, Åland and Åbo - See It On A Postcard.