Still life with Plaster Head, 1946, oil on canvas, 54 x 65 cm
Anita Snellman’s artistic career began spectacularly. Having dropped out of the Lahti Girls Lyceum school just
before the final exams she got admitted to the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 1944. Still Life with Plaster Head is some
kind of self-portrait of the young art student, and demonstrates a command of complex composition.
Still life with Carnation, 1949, oil on canvas, 58 x 79 cm
The young artist was frequently reprimanded by the critics for her loose composition.
Disciplined and static models of composition were in vogue. However, in this looseness were the seeds
of Anita’s airy, relaxed and colourful engagement with painting, which began to flourish in the 1960s.
Still life with Bottles, 1952, oil on canvas, 65 x 80 cm
The Bird Seller, 1953, oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm
The Bird Seller was her breakthrough painting. It was displayed in a 1953 Exhibition of Young Artists, and a reproduction
of the painting appeared in various newspapers, where its stark expression and composition were greatly admired.
Palma, 1954, oil on canvas, 73 x 91 cm
Self-portrait, 1955, oil on canvas, 82 x 51 cm
Anita Snellman painted a number of self-portraits. Here she is looking directly at us, somewhat
concerned, but nonetheless self-assured. The angular composition is offset by the warm tone of the skin.
Corrida, 1955, oil on canvas, 85 x 96 cm
Acquired in April 2012
Doña Lucia, 1956, oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm
The artist plunged straight into productive work in the 1950s. She regularly took part in exhibitions as well as exhibiting
on her own. Her paintings grew in size and Doña Lucia, painted in Spain, shares the boldness of her contemporaries, Pablo
Picasso and Erik Enroth. During this period Anita’s subjects mostly had to do with life in impoverished Spanish neighbourhoods.
The Guitarist (Pepe), 1958, oil on canvas, 136 x 77 cm
Self-portrait, 1961, oil on canvas, 90 x 96 cm
In this self-portrait the artist is mainly concerned with the juxtaposition of contrasting colours and the creation of a luminous painting.
Still life on Black Cloth 1, 1964, oil on canvas, 75 x 100 cm
Matanza, 1964, oil on canvas, 184 x 151 cm
Dead Fowl, 1967, oil on canvas, 140 x 105 cm
This still life offers a powerful reflection on Spanish art’s morbid fascination with life and death.
Belleri-Belle, 1967, oil on canvas, 75 x 51cm
The cats, hens and cockerels in the yard of Anita’s Ibiza home meant a lot to the artist and often served as models in her paintings.
Girl and Cockerel, 1967, oil on canvas, 100 x 80 cm
Tonita, 1968, oil on canvas, 50 x 61 cm
The Almond Tree, 1969, oil on canvas, 135 x 125 cm
The blossoming branches of the almond tree almost intoxicate the viewer with their enchanting vitality, radiance and beauty.
White Still life, 1969, oil on canvas, 81 x 116 cm
Sunshine, 1970, oil on canvas, 116 x 110 cm
Anita practically worshipped sun, light and heat. The still life Sunshine is a paean of yellow.
Todos los Santos, 1970, oil on canvas, 85 x 79 cm
The Muses (triptych), 1971, oil on canvas 218 x 350 cm
Did Anita find in her Ibiza home her very own Tahiti? It seems so, at least as we gaze at this paradisial realm, with the
muses entranced by the flautist’s playing. The work is on a grand scale and marked the beginning of a series of triptychs.
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