Maria Wiik: Alone at Home

Maria Wiik (1853–1928) painted Alone at Home (1885) in Janakkala, on the grounds of Löyttymäki Manor, where the artist spent the summer of 1885 painting with Helene Schjerfbeck. During that summer, Wiik concentrated on portraying ordinary people, focusing particularly on local children. Wiik was known for the sensitivity of her child portraits and here, too, she has captured the little boy’s air of loyal expectancy. Wiik’s paintings from Löyttymäki share a soft, blue-tinged colour palette that the artist used to convey the hazy light in a peasant hut.