Hilda Flodin

Hilda Flodin (16 March 1877 – 9 March 1958) was a Finnish artist. She worked in a variety of media, but in the first part of her career primarily sculpture and etchings, later primarily painting, especially portraits.

Life and career

Flodin was born in Helsinki into a family with musical and artistic interests. Her mother was the sister of Ida Basilier-Magelssen. She came from a family of 9 and one of her sisters, Fanny, became a pianist. The composer Karl Flodin was her cousin. She won an award at the end of her first year in 1897, placing third in the Society's annual prize contest for young artists, and in 1903 she took second place.

Early in her career, Flodin was known primarily for her sculptures. These included a marble bust of Robert Kajanus and a bronze, Old Man Thinking, in the Ateneum in Helsinki, as well as the folklore-inspired carvings surrounding the main entrance of Gesellius, Lindgren & Saarinen's 1901 Pohjola Insurance building. She was also one of the first Finnish etchers. Albert Edelfelt called her Finland's best etcher; Her work is displayed at the first Salon d'automne of Paris in 1903 puis en 1905, 1913 and 1927.

She returned to Finland in 1906 In 1907, she was the only woman artist participating in the first joint exhibition of graphic arts there; Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Hugo Simberg were among the other exhibitors. Flodin and Gwen John, another of his students, models and lovers, were also erotically involved, according to John's letters.

From 1908 to 1914 Flodin was married to the painter Juho Rissanen. Her second marriage was to Taavetti Laitinen, a physician.

She died in Helsinki in 1958.

Collections and exhibitions Flodin's works are in the Ateneum in Helsinki and in the Keuruu Museum, which has an exhibit built around a portfolio discovered in a Helsinki antiquarian bookshop. A 2016 exhibition of Rodin works in Helsinki included works by Flodin and by Sigrid af Forselles, another female Finnish sculptor who studied with him in the 1880s.