{"id":891,"date":"2016-08-11T21:52:31","date_gmt":"2016-08-11T21:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/?page_id=891"},"modified":"2020-12-27T11:50:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T09:50:50","slug":"eyes-finland-heart-in-latvia_eng","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/en\/eyes-finland-heart-in-latvia_eng\/","title":{"rendered":"Janis Rozent\u0101ls &#8211; Eyes on Finland, Heart in Latvia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In the Beginning There Was Love<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo souls, which were born belonging to one another, have through destiny, no, by the wondrous hand of God, found one another,\u201d wrote Finnish singer Elli Forssell in a letter home to Helsinki from Riga, where she was performing, in 1902. The letter home was overflowing with emotion as Elli described how \u201cour first glances gifted us to one another forever.\u201d Artist Janis Rozent\u0101ls had also come to listen to Elli Forssell\u2019s concert. \u201cDid you like the singer?\u201d Janis Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 friend asked him after the concert. \u201cOf course I liked her\u2014she is my future wife,\u201d he answered. At the reception after the concert, the artist presented the singer with a bouquet of roses and introduced himself\u2014his name was Janis Rozent\u0101ls&nbsp; (Jan Rosenthal, \u2018rose valley\u2019, in German). \u201cRosenthal and roses!\u201d they say Elli Forssell replied when she met her husband for the first time. His marriage to Elli Forssell in 1903 affected more than Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 personal life. It also inspired a strong interest in Finnish art.<\/p>\n<p>When he met Elli, Janis was 36 years old and already a succes-sful artist. He wrote the following about himself in a letter to his future father-in-law Theodor Forssell: \u201cYour entire culture, and especially your art, has been exemplary for me as a Latvian, and as a painter I most respect your great masters such as Gallen, J\u00e4rnefelt, Halonen, Saarinen and the like. In fact, my secret longing is to become something of the same for Latvians, if only my minor gifts and our external circum-stances provide the possibility.\u201d The suitor had grand beliefs about himself, but time revealed them to be well founded. <strong>1 , 2, 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_868\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-868\" style=\"width: 227px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377184-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-868\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Elli and Janis. 1903 \" width=\"227\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377184-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-227x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-868\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-868\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377184-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-227x300.jpg\" alt=\"Elli and Janis. 1903 \" width=\"227\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377184-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-227x300.jpg 227w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377184-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg 262w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Elli and Janis. 1903<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_865\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-865\" style=\"width: 166px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Z_4294_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-865\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Portrait of Elli Rozent\u0101le (Portrait of the Artist\u2019s Wife). 1906 \" width=\"166\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Z_4294_NETTI-166x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-865\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-865\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Z_4294_NETTI-166x300.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of Elli Rozent\u0101le (Portrait of the Artist\u2019s Wife). 1906 \" width=\"166\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Z_4294_NETTI-166x300.jpg 166w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Z_4294_NETTI.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 166px) 100vw, 166px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Portrait of Elli Rozent\u0101le<br \/>(Portrait of the Artist\u2019s Wife). 1906<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_863\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-863\" style=\"width: 241px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377505-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-full wp-image-863\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Elli ans Janis. 1903. \" width=\"241\" height=\"177\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377505-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-863\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-863\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377505-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg\" alt=\"Elli ans Janis. 1903. \" width=\"241\" height=\"177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377505-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg 241w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377505-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 241px) 100vw, 241px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Elli ans Janis. 1903.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Janis Rozent\u0101ls was born in 1866 in Saldus. His father was a blacksmith. Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 family could not afford schooling past basic education and, at 15, the young Janis left for Riga in search of a living. The young Janis tried his luck as a waiter, but that career came to a halt when a sugar cake worth a whole three roubles slipped from his hands onto the restaurant floor before making it to the customers. Luckily, the boy, who was interested in drawing, was soon taken on as a painter\u2019s appren-tice. After spending a few years washing paintbrushes, Janis was finally allowed to paint walls and ceilings. Through his hard work, he was accepted to the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, where he began his studies in 1888. Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 diploma work After Church attracted much attention. <strong>4<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_872\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-872\" style=\"width: 199px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-55_NBL0136_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-full wp-image-872\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Coming from Church (After the Service). 1894 \" width=\"199\" height=\"283\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-55_NBL0136_NETTI.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-872\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-872\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-55_NBL0136_NETTI.jpg\" alt=\"Coming from Church (After the Service). 1894 \" width=\"199\" height=\"283\"><\/noscript><\/a> Coming from Church<br \/>(After the Service). 1894<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In Saint Petersburg, he was a member of a group of Latvian art and music students called R\u016b\u0137is (Elf). R\u016b\u0137is was a nationalistic group, whose members included composers J\u0101zeps V\u012btols and Em\u012bls D\u0101rzi\u0146\u0161, sculptor Teodors Za\u013ckalns and painter Vilhelms Purv\u012btis. Rozent\u0101ls returned to Latvia in 1899. He built a house in his home region of Saldus, but he did not stay for long, as the small city had begun to feel too cramped for the artist. In 1901, Rozent\u0101ls relocated to Riga, and already the next year, the fateful concert brought Elli\u2014and Finland\u2014into his life.<\/p>\n<p>The lovers were engaged just a few days after their first meeting. Elli would have wanted to get married right away, and asked her father to send the necessary papers to Riga. She said Janis wished for a small wedding ceremony and wrote to her father, \u201c&#8230;I am already Janis\u2019 wife in spirit, and I will do everything as my husband sees best.\u201d However, the ceremony was held at the German Church in Helsinki in March 1903. The invitations were, of course, drawn by the groom himself. In the picture, a man in a black suit steers a boat in which sits a woman in a white dress.&nbsp; The invitations were based on Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 painting Teiksma (Tale) from 1897. These are some of the few of Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 works that feature the sea. <strong>5, 6<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_878\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-878\" style=\"width: 174px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Rosenthal_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-878\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Br\u00f6llopsinbjudan, 1903 \" width=\"174\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Rosenthal_NETTI-174x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-878\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-878\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Rosenthal_NETTI-174x300.jpg\" alt=\"Br\u00f6llopsinbjudan, 1903 \" width=\"174\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Rosenthal_NETTI-174x300.jpg 174w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Rosenthal_NETTI.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 174px) 100vw, 174px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Wedding Invitation, 1903<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_881\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-881\" style=\"width: 214px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/G1A1651_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-881\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"S\u00e4gen, 1897 \" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/G1A1651_NETTI-214x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-881\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-881\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/G1A1651_NETTI-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"S\u00e4gen, 1897 \" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/G1A1651_NETTI-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/G1A1651_NETTI.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> A legend, ca. 1897<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>It Is Always Summer in Finland<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One month after the wedding, Elli wrote to her father: \u201cBe-coming a mother is certainly a great gift\u2014for this reason I am joyful that I might be one. The Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 firstborn, a daughter named Laila, was born in the autumn. The new father wrote to his father-in-law Theodor Forssell: \u201cLieber Papi! (\u201cDear father\u201c) Ich bringer Dir die frohe Botschaft, dass Dun ein gl\u00fccklicher Grossvater geworden bisst\u201d (Dear father! I bring you cheerful news, you have become a happy grandfather). In the four-page letter, Janis describes the birth of the little girl from the father\u2019s point of view and admires little Laila\u2019s beauty and intelligence. Soon their second daughter, Irja Austra, was born. The youngest child, a boy named Mi\u0137elis (Mikki), was born in 1907. Becoming a father brought the theme of mother and child into Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 work, and he painted several paintings of Elli with little Laila. <strong>7,8<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_866\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-866\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_99311-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-866\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Janis and Laila, 1904 \" width=\"300\" height=\"233\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_99311-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-300x233.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-866\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-866\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_99311-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-300x233.jpg\" alt=\"Janis and Laila, 1904 \" width=\"300\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_99311-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-300x233.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_99311-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-435x338.jpg 435w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_99311-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg 567w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Janis and Laila, 1904<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_871\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-871\" style=\"width: 198px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC_0664__NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-871\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Janis Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 letter to Theodor Forsell. 1903 \" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC_0664__NETTI-198x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-871\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-871\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC_0664__NETTI-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"Janis Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 letter to Theodor Forsell. 1903 \" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC_0664__NETTI-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC_0664__NETTI.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Janis Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 letter to Theodor Forsell. 1903<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In his wife, Rozent\u0101ls had found the ideal of beauty, which he wanted to depict in as many different ways as possible. Rozent\u0101ls began his artistic career as a realist, but later gained influences from impressionism and symbolism. Elli sometimes appeared in his paintings as Eve, other times as Mary Magdale-ne. Most commonly, however, she appeared as a Madonna. The small children kept their mother up at night and there were problems with servants, but the ideal of beauty still had the energy to model for her husband. Summers in Finland brought variety to the family\u2019s life. The Forssells had a summer home in Nummela, around 50 kilometres from Helsinki, where the Rozent\u0101ls spent several summers. <strong>9, 10, 11<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_876\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-876\" style=\"width: 195px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-5372_07200004_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-full wp-image-876\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"In Nummela. 1906 \" width=\"195\" height=\"283\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-5372_07200004_NETTI.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-876\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-876\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-5372_07200004_NETTI.jpg\" alt=\"In Nummela. 1906 \" width=\"195\" height=\"283\"><\/noscript><\/a> In Nummela. 1906<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_874\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-874\" style=\"width: 215px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-1488_07200002_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-874\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"On the Plank. 1907. \" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-1488_07200002_NETTI-215x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-874\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-874\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-1488_07200002_NETTI-215x300.jpg\" alt=\"On the Plank. 1907. \" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-1488_07200002_NETTI-215x300.jpg 215w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-1488_07200002_NETTI.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 215px) 100vw, 215px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> On the Plank. 1907.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_873\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-873\" style=\"width: 208px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-73_07950017_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-873\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Under the Rowan Tree. 1905 \" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-73_07950017_NETTI-208x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-873\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-873\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-73_07950017_NETTI-208x300.jpg\" alt=\"Under the Rowan Tree. 1905 \" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-73_07950017_NETTI-208x300.jpg 208w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-73_07950017_NETTI.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 208px) 100vw, 208px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Under the Rowan Tree. 1905<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Janis painted sunny portraits, which also included Elli\u2019s relatives. For Rozent\u0101ls, it was always summer in Finland. When depicting nature, Rozent\u0101ls was particularly interested in summer landscapes, although he also sometimes painted bright autumn colours. Rozent\u0101ls only rarely painted winter landscapes. <strong>12, 13<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_870\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-870\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377402-Rozentals_Janis__NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-870\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Finnish summer, a photograph by Janis Rozent\u0101ls. Ca. 1908. \" width=\"300\" height=\"221\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377402-Rozentals_Janis__NETTI-300x221.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-870\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-870\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377402-Rozentals_Janis__NETTI-300x221.jpg\" alt=\"Finnish summer, a photograph by Janis Rozent\u0101ls. Ca. 1908. \" width=\"300\" height=\"221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377402-Rozentals_Janis__NETTI-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377402-Rozentals_Janis__NETTI-80x60.jpg 80w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377402-Rozentals_Janis__NETTI.jpg 348w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Finnish summer, a photograph by Janis Rozent\u0101ls. Ca. 1908.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_869\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-869\" style=\"width: 220px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377397-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-869\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Finnish summer, a photograph by Janis Rozent\u0101ls. Ca. 1908. \" width=\"220\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377397-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-220x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-869\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-869\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377397-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-220x300.jpg\" alt=\"Finnish summer, a photograph by Janis Rozent\u0101ls. Ca. 1908. \" width=\"220\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377397-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-220x300.jpg 220w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377397-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg 255w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 220px) 100vw, 220px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Finnish summer, a photograph by Janis Rozent\u0101ls. Ca. 1908.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>&nbsp;At&nbsp;the <\/strong><strong>Peaks of Life<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The clear lines and almost harshness of Finnish art also in-fluenced Rozent\u0101ls as an artist. In an article in the newspaper V\u0113rot\u0101js (Observer) in 1905, Rozent\u0101ls praised Gallen-Kalle-la\u2019s frescoes in the Juselius mausoleum in Pori. It is said that Gallen-Kallela\u2019s frescoes\u2014those in the Juselius mausoleum as well as ones in the Finnish pavilion at the world\u2019s fair in Paris\u2014provided inspiration for one of Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 most visible works, the paintings on the facade of the Latvian Society House in Riga.&nbsp; Elli helped her husband on his expeditions through Finnish art by translating articles with him on the subject: Elli translated from Finnish into German and Janis from German into Latvian.<\/p>\n<p>Janis wrote to his Finnish relatives in German\u2014although letters to his father in law often began with the greeting \u201cLieber Is\u00e4!\u201d Inspired by love, but also for practical reasons, Elli learned the Latvian language. As soon as she had met Janis in autumn 1902, she wrote to her father: \u201cBut because I still do not understand much of his language (although I am studying it already), we have to use German (which is much too banal for such a sacred feeling as our love).\u201d Elli always spoke Finnish to her children, and the Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 home was bilingual. When their daughter Irja was asked decades later what her mother tongue was, she said she didn\u2019t really know: her mother always spoke Finnish to her and her father always spoke Latvian. When Irja was studying nursing in Finland in the 1920s, her brother Mi\u0137elis wrote to his sister in Finnish, while her older sister Laila wrote in Latvian.<\/p>\n<p>On the top floor of their apartment on Alberta iela\u2014or Albert Street\u2014there was a bright atelier where Rozent\u0101ls painted and also taught art students.&nbsp; The family also made money from tenants, for whom Elli provided full room and board. The Rozent\u0101ls family often had tenants. The most famous of them was one of Latvia\u2019s most famous writers, R\u016bdolfs Blaumanis. Elli described Blaumanis as an \u201corderly tenant\u201d. Blaumanis suffered from tuberculosis and, in the end, Elli was able to secure a place for him at the Takaharju sanatorium in Finland. However, the disease had progressed too far and Blaumanis died in Finland in 1908.<\/p>\n<p>The Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 home was a meeting place for Riga\u2019s cultural elite, and also functioned as base for Finnish travellers to the Baltics. For Elli, family and relatives were of utmost impor-tance. Letters travelled between Helsinki and Riga at a furious pace, and guests visited often. Important guests included the \u201cMikkolainen\u201d family, Elli\u2019s dear cousin and friend, writer Maila Talvio, and her husband, linguist Juuse Mikkola.&nbsp; In addition to letters, parcels were sent both by post and with travellers. Elli received Finnish newspapers, reindeer meat and books by her cousin Maila, while the relatives in Finland were sent handicrafts by Elli and her daughters and once also \u201cpastalas\u201d, traditional Latvian footwear. <strong>14, 15<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_875\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-875\" style=\"width: 236px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-2787_NBF5410_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-full wp-image-875\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Portrait of Writer R\u016bdolfs Blaumanis. 1908 \" width=\"236\" height=\"283\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-2787_NBF5410_NETTI.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-875\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-875\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/GL-2787_NBF5410_NETTI.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of Writer R\u016bdolfs Blaumanis. 1908 \" width=\"236\" height=\"283\"><\/noscript><\/a> Portrait of Writer R\u016bdolfs Blaumanis. 1908<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_883\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-883\" style=\"width: 249px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/018385_9_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-883\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Portrait of Maila Talvio. 1904 \" width=\"249\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/018385_9_NETTI-249x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-883\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-883\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/018385_9_NETTI-249x300.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of Maila Talvio. 1904 \" width=\"249\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/018385_9_NETTI-249x300.jpg 249w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/018385_9_NETTI.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 249px) 100vw, 249px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Portrait of Maila Talvio. 1904<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>To Finland for Safety<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 1914, World War I broke out. Life in Riga became danger-ous so, in 1915, the Rozent\u0101ls family fled to Finland. During World War I, Latvia was trampled heavily as different armies marched back and forth over the country. War was fought in the country for years between the Germans\u2014and with them&nbsp; Finnish J\u00e4gers \u2014the red and white Russian armies and Latvia\u2019s own army, together with the Estonians. The Rozent\u0101ls settled in Helsinki. \u201cThey had three small children then, and they came here with almost no clothes on their backs,\u201d said Maila Talvio, later recalling her cousin\u2019s family\u2019s escape to Finland. In 1915, Elli wrote from her sister Liisi\u2019s home in Forssa to sculptor Emil Wikstr\u00f6m and his wife, saying that the family were now homeless and that Janis was trying to find a place for them to live. They managed to find one in Kulosaari, in a villa where \u201c&#8230;water was frozen on the floor in the morning and the windows were covered in frost\u201d. The family was safe, however.<\/p>\n<p>Once he had brought his family to safety, Rozent\u0101ls travelled back to Riga to save his paintings. He brought the works to Saint Petersburg, to an exhibition of Latvian art. After the successful exhibition, he was asked to organise a similar one in Moscow. On this trip, Rozent\u0101ls fell ill with pneumonia. Rozent\u0101ls was raving in the hospital, and his worried friends decided to send a telegraph to Finland. Elli departed on an eventful journey through warring Russia without knowing a word of Russian. Of course, no one knew Finnish or Latvian and she couldn\u2019t use German, the language of the enemies, so Elli wrote the most important words on a piece of paper she kept with her. That was enough for Elli to find her way to Moscow and get Janis back to Finland to recover.<\/p>\n<p>The foreign painter, who was unknown in Finland, had trouble finding work, but Rozent\u0101ls continued to paint constantly. In summer 1916, he enthusiastically painted a portrait of writer Aino Kallas, who was spending the summer in Helsinki.<\/p>\n<p>While painting, there was also time for strong emotions, as Aino wrote in her diary in July 1916: \u201cHe is my man, he unites strength and delicateness, sensuality and pureness. I do not feel like this is wrong, not for a moment. This cannot be wrong, it is too great, it touches my whole being and my whole life, too fateful, it is not at all a question of my own will.\u201d During a walk on the beach, Rozent\u0101ls also told her that he did not need promises and vows, and that one must take what the moment has to offer.<\/p>\n<p>With his erratic feelings, Rozent\u0101ls disappointed Kallas, who later wrote to herself in her diary: \u201c&#8230;of course you would have wanted to let everything develop to extremes, then heroically decline and live on in triumph. But now it was different: you did not need to decline, only submit to necessity, there is no question of conquering temptation, as there is no temptation.\u201d The cooling of their relationship was probably provoked by the fact that Rozent\u0101ls painted a strange face over Kallas\u2019, which some believe belonged to the Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 servant. The painting ended up in Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 memorial exhibit, where it was purchased and remained in Finland. <strong>16, 18, 19<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_861\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-861\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377500-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-861\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Elli and Janis on a trip. 1905 \" width=\"300\" height=\"228\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377500-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-300x228.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-861\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-861\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377500-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-300x228.jpg\" alt=\"Elli and Janis on a trip. 1905 \" width=\"300\" height=\"228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377500-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-300x228.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377500-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-80x60.jpg 80w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377500-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg 302w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Elli and Janis on a trip. 1905, 19<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_880\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-880\" style=\"width: 233px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/E6A0041_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-880\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Portrait of Aino Kallas. 1916 \" width=\"233\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/E6A0041_NETTI-233x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-880\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-880\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/E6A0041_NETTI-233x300.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of Aino Kallas. 1916 \" width=\"233\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/E6A0041_NETTI-233x300.jpg 233w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/E6A0041_NETTI.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 233px) 100vw, 233px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Portrait of Aino Kallas. 1916<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_867\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-867\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_2908712-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-867\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Villa in Br\u00e4nd\u00f6 (Kulosaari). 1961 \" width=\"300\" height=\"205\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_2908712-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-300x205.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-867\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-867\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_2908712-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-300x205.jpg\" alt=\"Villa in Br\u00e4nd\u00f6 (Kulosaari). 1961 \" width=\"300\" height=\"205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_2908712-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_2908712-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg 414w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Villa in Br\u00e4nd\u00f6 (Kulosaari). 1961<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In summer 1916, Rozent\u0101ls also painted his daughter Laila on the shore in Kulosaari. The same year he also painted the painting Mustikkamaa. The family needed money and Rozent\u0101ls had to get works sold. The writer Maila Talvio tried to help Rozent\u0101ls in many ways. Rozent\u0101ls painted the covers of the Heart of the Christmas magazines Heart of Winter and Sleighbells, among others. The Sleighbells magazine edited By Maila Talvio had previously featured covers by artists such as Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Erno J\u00e4rnefelt, Pekka Halonen, V\u00e4in\u00f6 Blomstedt and Venny Soldan-Brofeldt. <strong>20, 21<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_877\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-877\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/PRIV_05148_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-877\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Mustikkamaa. 1916 \" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/PRIV_05148_NETTI-300x197.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-877\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-877\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/PRIV_05148_NETTI-300x197.jpg\" alt=\"Mustikkamaa. 1916 \" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/PRIV_05148_NETTI-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/PRIV_05148_NETTI.jpg 431w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Mustikkamaa. 1916<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_886\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-886\" style=\"width: 221px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC_0663_persp_korjattu_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-886\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"\u201dSyd\u00e4ntalvi\u201d (The Heart of Winter). 1916 \" width=\"221\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC_0663_persp_korjattu_NETTI-221x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-886\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-886\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC_0663_persp_korjattu_NETTI-221x300.jpg\" alt=\"\u201dSyd\u00e4ntalvi\u201d (The Heart of Winter). 1916 \" width=\"221\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC_0663_persp_korjattu_NETTI-221x300.jpg 221w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/DSC_0663_persp_korjattu_NETTI.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 221px) 100vw, 221px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> \u201dSyd\u00e4ntalvi\u201d (The Heart of Winter). 1916<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Suddenly It Was All Over<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rozent\u0101ls was known for being a gifted portrait painter, and Maila Talvio wanted to get him work in Finland, too. In order for Talvio to demonstrate Janis\u2019 skills, she asked him to paint a portrait of her that she could show to potential customers.&nbsp; The model wore a black dress and lace collar and sat down to be painted in the Kulosaari villa. \u201c&#8230;now I can\u2019t talk to you at all, because I have to get a book ready by Christmas and I have to think about it while you are painting,\u201d Maila Talvio later said she told Rozent\u0101ls. The book she was writing at the time was the novel El\u00e4m\u00e4n kasvot (\u2018the Face of Life\u2019). The painting was completed and served its purpose: Rozent\u0101ls received several portrait orders. The portrait of Maila Talvio remained in her possession and stayed in Finland. <strong>22<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_884\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-884\" style=\"width: 243px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/A81_paino_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy wp-image-884 size-medium\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"A81 Rozentals Janis : Maila Talvio 1916\" width=\"243\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/A81_paino_NETTI-243x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-884\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-884 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/A81_paino_NETTI-243x300.jpg\" alt=\"A81 Rozentals Janis : Maila Talvio 1916\" width=\"243\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/A81_paino_NETTI-243x300.jpg 243w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/A81_paino_NETTI.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 243px) 100vw, 243px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Portrait of Maila Talvio. 1916<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The portraits ordered from Rozent\u0101ls were never painted, however. The artist died of a heart attack on Boxing Day 1916. Janis Rozent\u0101ls was buried on the first day of 1917 in Helsinki. \u201c&#8230;the powerful man did not steer the boat through the dark, glistening water, and no bride in white sat on the thwart, like once on a wedding invitation,\u201d said Maila Talvio, describing the funeral procession on New Year\u2019s Day from Kulosaari to the Old Cemetery in Helsinki.<\/p>\n<p>Latvian friends had arrived from Saint Petersburg for the funeral, bringing with them a wreath, which read: \u201cRest in the cold ground of Finland until we come and bring you home.\u201d In February 1917, a memorial exhibition was held for Rozent\u0101ls. \u201cThe paintings and colours, the whole summer of Br\u00e4nd\u00f6 [Kulosaari] lived on the walls\u2014only he was gone,\u201d wrote Aino Kallas, describing the exhibition in her diary. The great boy of Latvia was laid to rest in the ground of his homeland in 1920.Several of Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 works, from paintings to small drawings, remained in Finland as a reminder of the artists\u2019 last years in Kulosaari.<\/p>\n<p>Elli continued to live in Finland for four years, until she re-turned to Riga with her children in 1920. There she continued to work with Finnish-Latvian cultural relations. Elli died of heart problems in Riga in 1943. Now, the protagonists of the most famous Finnish-Latvian love story rest together in the Forest Cemetery in Riga. Rozent\u0101ls\u2019 legacy lives on in many ways. One example is the Rozent\u0101ls society, or&nbsp; the Finnish-Latvian friendship society, the producer of the exhibition. <strong>23<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_862\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-862\" style=\"width: 215px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377504-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy size-medium wp-image-862\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20width=&#039;4&#039;%20height=&#039;3&#039;%20xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039;%20viewBox=&#039;0%200%204%203&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Elli and Janis, 1905 \" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377504-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-215x300.jpg\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-862\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-862\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377504-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-215x300.jpg\" alt=\"Elli and Janis, 1905 \" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377504-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI-215x300.jpg 215w, https:\/\/www.rozentals-seura.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RTMM_377504-Rozentals_Janis_NETTI.jpg 248w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 215px) 100vw, 215px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Elli and Janis, 1905<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the Beginning There Was Love \u201cTwo souls, which were born belonging to one another, have through destiny, no, by the wondrous hand of God, found one another,\u201d wrote Finnish singer Elli Forssell in a letter home to Helsinki from &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-891","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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