Hugo Simberg was born on June 24, 1873 at Hamina, Finland. He died on July 12, 1917. Simberg was a Finnish symbolist painter and graphic artist. His passion for art began in 1891, at the age of 18, where he enrolled at the Drawing School of the Viipuri Friends of Art. He then went on to studied at the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Association from 1893 to 1895. Then, from 1907 to 1917 he taught at the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Association.
Simberg's paintings emphasize mainly macabre and supernatural topics. A good example is Kuolema kuuntelee (Death Listens), which depicts Death, personified as a skeleton wearing a black coat, listening with a bowed head as a young man plays the violin. In the background is an old woman lying on a bed, pale and apparently sickly. There is a suggestion that Death is there for the old woman, but that he is pausing so the young man, possibly the dying woman's son, can have time to finish his violin playing.
The Garden of Death is one of the few paintings Simberg typically preferred to let viewers come to their own conclusions of its symbolism. In a note on one sketch he described the garden as "the place where the dead end up before going to Heaven". Simberg's juxtaposition of the traditionally frightening imagery of death with the tenderness and humor of his portrayal invite the viewer to consider mortality in a new light. The painting was a favorite subject of Simberg's and he made several versions using different techniques.
Hugo Simberg's work fits well in our page because a good amount of his art work includes death. Some of his art pieces are Death Listens, The Garden of Death, Dancing Death, and Death Peasant which are all included on this page. While two of these art pieces have a background/symbolism the others do not. However, all these pieces include and revolve around death which is why Simberg's work fits so well withing our page and our theme. Lastly, it also helps us get our theme's overview across and presented.
