![Helene Schjerfbeck - Katri [c.1918]](http://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7778/17565835324_0de458bcb6_o.jpg)
Helene Schjerfbeck (Helsinki, July 10, 1862 - Saltsjöbaden, January 23, 1946) was a Finnish painter. She is most widely known for her realist works and self-portraits, and less well known for her landscapes and still lifes. Throughout her long life, her work changed dramatically. In 1879, at the age of 17, Schjerfbeck won third prize in a competition organised by the Finnish Art Society, and in 1880 her work was displayed in an annual Finnish Art Society exhibition. That summer Schjerfbeck spent time at a manor owned by her aunt on her mother’s side, Selma Printz, and Selma’s husband Thomas Adlercreutz. There she spent time drawing and painting her cousins. Schjerfbeck became particularly close to her cousin Selma Adlercreutz, who was her age. She set off to Paris later that year after receiving a travel grant from the Imperial Russian Senate.
[Bukowski’s Autumn Klassiska Sale - Oil on canvas laid down on panel, 23.5 x 22 cm]