Hugo Simberg
Fairy Tale I

Hugo Simberg (1873–1917) created Fairy Tale I (1897) in Ruovesi, where he studied under Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865–1931) in 1895 and 1897. It was there that Simberg found himself as a fairy-tale painter, merge in his works his personal experiences of nature with a fantasy world. Fairy Tale I depicts an encounter between a young maid in a pure, white outfit, and a beast from the forest. The work has been interpreted as a version of the classical beauty-and-beast theme or as an end-of-innocence and coming-of-age story.