Go to contents

Love connected over generations

Posted July. 27, 2023 08:13,   

Updated July. 27, 2023 08:13

한국어

Loving one another in good health and being happy is a wish for a family that is shared by many. Loving each other in good health for generations – what more could one ask for? Finland painter Hugo Simberg was a devoted man with such ideals.

Simberg would visit Niemenranta, a small seaside village in Finland, with his family every summer. He would stay in a cottage and draw paintings of his family. ‘Towards the Evening (1913, photo)’ was a painting created in Nienmenranta. The model in the painting is Simberg’s father, Nicholai, and his son, Tom. His father was 90 years old, and his son was two years old. The old man and child hold hands as they stroll against the beach at sunset. The black attire of the white-bearded man and the white clothes of the child are in great contrast. The old man standing towards the sea hints that it is time for him to return to nature. The child, who has just begun to walk, symbolizes the start of life.

Nicholai, who was a military official, had more than 10 children. When Simberg was born, he was 51 years old. Simberg married late and had his first son Tom at the age of 38. Simberg looked after his father, who cared for a large family. The painting depicts only the old man and the child but reflects how they are viewed from the painter’s perspective. Therefore, it depicts three generations. The real theme of this painting is the family of three generations connected through love. Simberg must have drawn this painting praying for happiness and long life for his father and son.

Perhaps his wishes were fulfilled. Nicholai lived for two more years and passed away at 92. His son Tom also lived until 94. However, Simberg passed away at the age of 44, just two years after his father’s death, living less than half the period of this father and son. Still, he must have been content, preserving the love and happiness of his family forever in his paintings.