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{{short description|Finnish painter  (1862–1946)}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Helene Schjerfbeck
| image = Schjerfbeck.jpg
| caption = Early 1890s.
| birth_name = Helena Sofia Schjerfbeck
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1862|7|10|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Helsinki]], [[Grand Duchy of Finland]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1946|1|23|1862|7|10|mf=yes}}
| death_place = [[Saltsjöbaden]], [[Sweden]]
| nationality = [[Finns|Finnish]]
| field = [[Painting]]
| training =
| movement = [[Naturalism (arts)]], [[Realism (arts)|Realism]] and [[Expressionism]]
| works =
| patrons =
| awards =
| module={{Infobox person|child=yes
| signature = Helene Schjerfbeck signature.svg}}
| spouse =
}}

'''Helena Sofia''' ('''Helene''') '''Schjerfbeck''' ({{IPA|sv|heˈleːn ˈʃæ̌rvbek|pron|Helene Schjerfbeck.ogg}}; July 10, 1862 – January 23, 1946) was a Finnish [[modernist painter]] known for her [[Realism (arts)|realist]] works and self-portraits, and also for her landscapes and still lifes. Throughout her long life her work changed dramatically, beginning with French-influenced realism and [[En plein air|''plein air'' painting]]. It gradually evolved towards portraits and still life paintings. At the beginning of her career she often produced historical paintings, such as the ''Wounded Warrior in the Snow'' (1880), ''At the Door of Linköping Jail in 1600'' (1882) and ''The Death of Wilhelm von Schwerin'' (1886). Historical paintings were usually the realm of male painters, as was experimentation with modern influences and French radical naturalism, and her works from mostly the 1880s did not receive a favourable reception until later in her life.<ref name="nationalbiography" />

<blockquote>Her work starts with a dazzlingly skilled, somewhat melancholic version of late-19th-century academic realism.... It ends with distilled, nearly abstract images in which pure paint and cryptic description are held in perfect balance. (Roberta Smith, ''The New York Times'', November 27, 1992)<ref name="NY">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/27/arts/review-art-a-neglected-finnish-modernist-is-rediscovered.html | author =Smith, Roberta |title= Review/Art: A Neglected Finnish Modernist Is Rediscovered |date= 27 November 1992 |newspaper= The New York Times | access-date=16 October 2015 }}</ref></blockquote>

Schjerbeck's birthday, July 10, is Finland's national day for the painted arts.

== Early life ==
[[File:Daniel Nyblin - Portrait photograph of Helene Schjerfbeck.jpg|thumb|Young Schjerfbeck in 1880]]
Helena Sofia Schjerfbeck was born on July 10, 1862, in [[Helsinki]], in the autonomous Grand-Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire, to Svante Schjerfbeck (an office manager) and Olga Johanna (née Printz).<ref name="yle">{{cite news |last1=Lindroos |first1=Charlotte |last2=Löyttyniemi |first2=Raili |title=Omakuvista tunnettu Helene Schjerfbeck rikkoi rajoja monella tavalla |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2017/07/07/omakuvista-tunnettu-helene-schjerfbeck-rikkoi-rajoja-monella-tavalla |accessdate=12 May 2020 |work=Yle |date=7 July 2017}}</ref> She had one surviving brother, [[Magnus Schjerfbeck]] (1860–1933), who went on to become an architect.<ref name="nationalbiography"/> In 1866, aged 4, she fell down some stairs injuring her hip, which prevented her from attending school and left her with a limp for the rest of her life. She showed talent at an early age, and at eleven years old in 1873 she was enrolled at the [[Finnish Art Society]] School of Drawing. Her fees were paid by [[Adolf von Becker]], who saw promise in her.<ref>Ahtola-Moorhouse, Lena: 'Schjerfbeck, Helene [Helena] (Sofia)'</ref> At this school Schjerfbeck met [[Helena Westermarck]]. These two, and artist [[Maria Wiik]] and lesser-known [[Ada Thilén]] had a close friendship during their lives.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lukulamppu.fi/product/taiteiljatoveruutta-helene-schjerfbeck-maria-wiik-helena-westermarck-ja-ada-thilen/|title=Taiteiljatoveruutta. Helene Schjerfbeck, Maria Wiik, Helena Westermarck ja Ada Thilén|publisher=Lukulamppu|language=fi|access-date=2019-10-01|archive-date=2019-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001212816/https://www.lukulamppu.fi/product/taiteiljatoveruutta-helene-schjerfbeck-maria-wiik-helena-westermarck-ja-ada-thilen/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="nationalbiography">{{cite web |last1=Konttinen |first1=Riina |title=Schjerfbeck, Helene (1862–1946) |url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/english/person/4115 |website=National Biography of Finland |translator=Fletcher Roderick |accessdate=12 May 2020}}</ref>

When Schjerfbeck's father died of [[tuberculosis]], on February 2, 1876, Schjerfbeck's mother took in boarders so that they could get by. A little over a year after her father's death, Schjerfbeck graduated from the Finnish Art Society drawing school. She continued her education, with Westermarck and paid for by Professor {{ill|Georg Asp|fi}}, at a private academy run by Adolf von Becker, which utilised the [[University of Helsinki]] drawing studio. There, Becker himself taught her French [[oil painting]] techniques.<ref name="nationalbiography"/>

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 [[Sjundby Manor]], owned by her aunt on her mother's side Selma Printz and her 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. Later in 1880 she set off to [[Paris]] after receiving a travel grant from the [[Governing Senate|Imperial Russian Senate]].<ref name="nationalbiography"/>

==Career==
===Paris===
In Paris, Schjerfbeck painted with Helena Westermarck, then left to study with [[Léon Bonnat]] at Mme Trélat de Vigny's studio. In 1881 she moved to the [[Académie Colarossi]], where she studied once again with Westermarck. The Imperial Senate gave her another scholarship, which she used to spend a couple of months in [[Meudon]], and then a few more months in [[Pont-Aven]] a small fishing in [[Concarneau]], Brittany. She then went back to the Académie Colarossi briefly, before returning to the {{ill|Adlercreutz family manor|fi|Villa Kleineh}} in Finland. Schjerfbeck continued to move around frequently, painting and studying with various people. Schjerfbeck made money by continuing to put her paintings in the Art Society's exhibitions, and she also did illustrations for books. After returning to Finland in 1882, in 1884 she was back in Paris at the Académie Colarossi with Westermarck, but this time they were working there. During this time she participated in Académie des Beaux-Arts’ The Salon and painted again in Brittany. In the chapel of Trèmolo near the village of Pont-Aven Schjerfbeck produced the painting ''The Door'' (1884).<ref name="nationalbiography"/>

{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=160
|Helene Schjerfbeck - Wounded Warrior in the Snow.jpg|''Wounded Warrior in the Snow'', 1880 <small>([[:fi:Haavoittunut soturi hangella|fi]])</small>
|Helene Schjerfbeck - Girl with a Madonna.jpg|''Girl with a Madonna'', 1881
|Schjerfbeck, Linköpingin vankilan ovella vuonna 1600.jpg|''At the Door of Linköping Jail in 1600'', 1882 <small>([[:fi:Linköpingin vankilan ovella vuonna 1600|fi]])</small>
|Helene Schjerfbeck - Clothes Drying.jpg|''Clothes Drying'', 1883
}}

===Engagement and travels===
In late Autumn 1883, Schjerfbeck got engaged to a Swedish painter [[Otto Hagborg]] who also lived in Pont-Aven in the winter and spring of 1883–1884. The engagement, however, came to an end in 1885 when a problem with Schjerfbeck's hip led the groom's family to suspect tuberculosis. In reality the problem resulted from a fall during her childhood. Schjerfbeck never married.<ref name="nationalbiography"/>

After spending a year in Finland, Schjerfbeck travelled again to Paris in the autumn of 1886. Schjerfbeck was given more money to travel by a man from the Finnish Art Society and in 1887 she travelled to [[St Ives, Cornwall]], in Britain.<ref name="nationalbiography"/> There she painted ''The Bakery'' (1887) and ''The Convalescent'', the latter winning the bronze medal at the [[Exposition Universelle (1889)|1889 Paris World Fair]]. The painting was later bought by the Finnish Art Society. During this period Schjerfbeck was painting in a naturalistic plein-air style.

{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=160
|Tytuotokuva by Helena Schjerfbeck 1885.jpg|''Portrait of a Girl'', 1885
|Wilhelm von Schwerins död, Helene Schjerfbeck.jpg|''The Death of Wilhelm von Schwerin'', 1886
|Helene Schjerfbeck - Mother and Child - A II 1539 - Finnish National Gallery.jpg|''Mother and Child'', 1886
|Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946)- The Convalescent - Toipilas - Konvalescenten (32721924996).jpg|''{{ill|The Convalescent|fi|Toipilas}}'', 1888<br><small>(it was voted second in a 2006 public vote organized by [[Ateneum]] for Finland's "national painting"<ref>{{cite news |title=Haavoittunut enkeli on suomalaisten suosikkitaulu |url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-6039024 |accessdate=23 May 2020 |work=Yle |date=2 December 2006}}</ref>)</small>
}}

===Teaching and sanatorium===
In the 1890s Schjerfbeck started teaching regularly in Finland at the Art Society drawing school, now the [[Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki|Academy of Fine Arts]]. [[Hilda Flodin]] was one of her students.<ref name="Ref">{{cite web|last=Bonsdorff|first=Bengt von|title=Flodin, Hilda|url=http://www.uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-103684-FlodinHilda|accessdate=2 June 2016|work=Uppslagsverket Finland|language=sv}}</ref> However, in 1901 she became too ill to teach and in 1902 she resigned from her post. She moved to [[Hyvinkää]], which was known for its sanatorium, all while taking care of her mother who lived with her (the mother died in 1923). While living in Hyvinkää, she continued to paint and exhibit.<ref name="NY"/> "Schjerfbeck’s sole contact with the art world was through magazines sent by friends."<ref>[[Facos, Michelle]]. 'Helene Schjerfbeck’s Self-Portraits', in ''Woman’s Art Journal''; 16 (Spring 1995): 12-7.</ref> Since she did not have art, Schjerfbeck took up hobbies like reading and embroidery.

During this time Schjerbeck produced [[still life]]s and landscape paintings, as well as portraits, such as that of her mother, local school girls and women workers, and also self-portraits, and she became a [[Modernist Painting|modernist painter]]. Her work has been compared to that of artists such as [[James McNeill Whistler]] and [[Edvard Munch]],<ref name="NY"/> but from 1905 her paintings took on a character that was hers alone. She continued experimenting with various techniques such as using different types of [[underpainting]].

{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=160
|De camino a la Iglesia by Helena Schjerfbeck 1900.jpg|''Churchgoers (Easter Morning)'', 1900 <small>([[:fi:Kirkkoväkeä|fi]])</small>
|Helene Schjerfbeck - At Home (1903).jpg|''At Home'', 1903<br><small>(depicts Olga Schjerfbeck, the artist's mother)</small>
|Helene Schjerfbeck - Fragment.jpg|''Fragment'', c. 1904<br><small>(the worn look is deliberate<ref name="kjk">{{cite news |last1=Halonen |first1=Kaisa |title=Hiljaiset kasvot |url=https://www.kirkkojakaupunki.fi/-/hiljaiset-kasvot#68204794 |accessdate=15 July 2020 |work=Kirkko ja kaupunki |date=21 March 2012}}</ref>)</small>
|Helene Schjerfbeck - Girls Reading.jpg|''Girls Reading'', 1907
}}

===Exhibitions===
In 1913 Schjerfbeck met the art-dealer {{ill|Gösta Stenman|fi}}, with whose encouragement she exhibited at [[Malmö]] in 1914, [[Stockholm]] in 1916 and [[St Petersburg]] in 1917. In 1917 Stenman organised her first solo exhibition and in that year Einar Reuter (alias H. Ahtela) published the first Schjerfbeck monograph. Later she exhibited at Copenhagen (1919), Gothenburg (1923) and Stockholm (1934). In 1937 Stenman organised another solo exhibition for her in Stockholm,<ref name="NY"/> and in 1938 he began paying her a monthly stipend. Her paintings were successfully displayed in several exhibitions in Sweden in the 1930s and 1940s.

{{Gallery
|height=160
|mode=packed
|'The Red-Haired Girl II' by Helene Schjerfbeck, oil and graphite on canvas.jpg|''The Red-Haired Girl II'', 1915
|Helene Schjerfbeck - The Sailor.jpg|''The Sailor'', 1918<br><small>(depicts Helene's close friend Einar Reuter<ref name="isvei">{{cite news |last1=Kolsi |first1=Eeva-Kaarina |title=Taiteilijanero vei salaisuuden hautaan: Kuka oli Helene Schjerfbeckin salaperäinen kihlattu? |url=https://www.is.fi/viihde/art-2000005913143.html |accessdate=12 August 2020 |work=Ilta-Sanomat |date=1 December 2018}}</ref>)</small>
|Helene Schjerfbeck - Robber at the Gate of Paradise.jpg|''Robber at the Gate of Paradise'', 1924 <small>([[:fi:Ryöväri paratiisin portilla|fi]])</small>
|Helene Schjerfbeck - Matti Kiianlinna (1926–27).jpg|''Actor, {{ill|Matti Kiianlinna|fi|Matti Kiianlinna}}'', 1926<br><small>(he became a friend of Helene until his untimely death in 1931<ref>{{cite news |title=Helene Schjerfbeckin muotokuva Matti Kiianlinnasta Serlachius-museoille |url=https://www.amusa.fi/fi/helene-schjerfbeckin-muotokuva-matti-kiianlinnasta-serlachius-museoille |accessdate=12 May 2020 |work=Amusa |date=27 November 2017}}</ref>)</small>
|Helene Schjerfbeck - Girl with Blue Ribbon (1943).jpg|''Girl with Blue Ribbon'', 1943 <small>([[:fi:Sininauhainen tyttö|fi]])</small>
}}

== Later years and death ==
As the years passed, Schjerfbeck travelled less. When a family matter arose she would return to her home city of Helsinki and she spent most of 1920 in [[Ekenäs (Finland)|Ekenäs]], but by 1921 she was back living in Hyvinkää.

For about a year, Schjerfbeck moved to a farm in [[Tenala]] to avoid the December 1939–March 1940 [[Winter War]], but returned to Ekenäs in the middle of 1940. She later moved into a nursing home, where she resided for less than a year before moving to the Luontola sanatorium. In 1944 she moved into the [[Saltsjöbaden]] spa hotel in Sweden, where she continued to paint actively even during her last years; e.g. the series of self-portraits.<ref name="nationalbiography"/>

She died on January 23, 1946, and was buried at the [[Hietaniemi Cemetery]] in Helsinki.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hietaniemen hautausmaa– merkittäviä vainajia|url=https://www.helsinginseurakunnat.fi/material/attachments/hautausmaat/hietaniemi/w8GZkM0y7/Hietaniemen_merkittavia_vainajia.pdf |publisher=Helsingin seurakuntayhtymä | language=Finnish  |access-date= November 30, 2017}}</ref>

{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=160
|Schjerfbeck self portrait 1939.jpg|''Self-Portrait'', 1939
|Helene Schjerfbeck - self portrait 1942.jpg|''Self-Portrait'', 1942
|Helene Schjerfbeck Punatäpläinen omakuva 1944.jpg|''Self-Portrait With Red Spot'', 1944
|Helene Schjerfbeck grave in Hietaniemi Cemetery 3.jpg|Grave at [[Hietaniemi Cemetery]]
}}

== Work ==
''Dancing Shoes'' is one of Schjerfbeck's most popular paintings and she returned to the theme three times, and executed a lithograph of it that catapulted the painting to international fame. It depicts her cousin Esther Lupander, who had extremely long legs, which led to the painting being nicknamed "The Grasshopper". Executed in [[Realism (art)|Realist]] style, the painting shows the clear influence of Schjerfbeck's stay in Paris, where she had expressed admiration for [[Édouard Manet]], [[Edgar Degas]], [[Berthe Morisot]], and [[Mary Cassatt]]. It fetched £3,044,500 at a 2008 Sotheby's London sale.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dancing Shoes|url=http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/the-scandinavian-sale-l08104/lot.219.html|publisher=[[Sotheby's]]}}</ref>

''Girl with Blonde Hair'' (1916) is an example of Schjerfbeck's mature style, drawing on [[Modernism#The beginnings of Modernism in France|French Modernism]]. The work belongs to a series (including also ''The Family Heirloom'' of the same year) depicting neighbours of Schjerfbeck, Jenny and Impi Tamlander, who ran errands for Schjerfbeck and her mother and helped look after the family home. Here the sitter is Impi. The painting realized £869,000 at a 2015 Sotheby's London sale.<ref>{{cite web|title=Girl with Blonde Hair|url=http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/19th-century-european-paintings-l15102/lot.10.html|publisher=[[Sotheby's]]}}</ref> Schjerfbeck's work was included in the 2018 exhibition ''Women in Paris 1850–1900''.<ref name="Madeline">{{cite book |last=Madeline |first=Laurence |title=Women artists in Paris, 1850–1900 |date=2017 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-22393-4}}</ref>

{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=180
|Tanssiaiskengat iso by Helena Schjerfbeck 1882.jpg|''Dancing Shoes'', 1882.
|Helene Schjerfbeck - The Family Heirloom.jpg|''The Family Heirloom'', 1916.
|Helene Schjerfbeck - Girl with Blonde Hair.jpg|''Girl with Blonde Hair'', 1916. <small>([[:fi:Vaaleatukkainen tyttö|fi]])</small>
}}

==Legacy==
Art forger {{ill|Veli Seppä|fi}} was an admirer of her works, and writes of his time [[Art forgery|forging]] them: "By encroaching on Schjerfbeck I felt like I had violated something sacred. It was if I had broken into a [[sacristy]] to steal the church silver." Fellow forger and self-admitted seller of 60 Schjerfbeck counterfeits Jouni Ranta was more critical and considered that her fame was undeserved.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kotirinta |first1=Pirkko |title=Suomen taitavimpiin kuulunut väärentäjä Veli Seppä kertoo kirjassa, kuinka helppoa työ oli – Kymmeniä väärennettyjä Schjerfbeckejä saattaa yhä seikkailla jossain |url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000006552069.html |accessdate=25 June 2020 |work=Helsingin Sanomat |date=25 June 2020}}</ref>

The 2003 biographical novel ''Helene'' by [[Rakel Liehu]] was a critical and commercial success, and won the 2004 [[Runeberg Prize]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Rakel Liehun Valaanluiset koskettimet kertoo runoilijan omakohtaisen kasvukertomuksen – kiehtovasti pianon näkökulmasta |url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000006698571.html |publisher=Helsingin Sanomat |date=25 October 2020 |language=fi}}</ref> It also formed the basis of a 2020 film by the same name, directed by [[Antti Jokinen]] and starring [[Laura Birn]] as Schjerfbeck,<ref>{{cite web |title=Helene (2020) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9742588/ |website=IMDb |access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref> which was nominated for an award in the feature-length category at the [[Shanghai International Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Antti J. Jokisen Helene-elokuva on valittu ehdolle kansainvälisen elokuvafestivaalin kilpasarjaan |url=https://www.keski-uusimaa.fi/uutissuomalainen/2342194 |access-date=28 February 2021 |agency=STT |publisher=Keski-Uusimaa |date=24 July 2020 |language=fi}}</ref>

===Exhibitions===
* In 1992, the [[National Academy of Design]] in Manhattan held an exhibition of Schjerfbeck's work.<ref name="NY">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/27/arts/review-art-a-neglected-finnish-modernist-is-rediscovered.html | author =Smith, Roberta |title= Review/Art: A Neglected Finnish Modernist Is Rediscovered |date= 27 November 1992 |newspaper= The New York Times | access-date=16 October 2015 }}</ref>
* From 20 July to 27 October 2019, the [[Royal Academy]] exhibited her work in ''Helene Schjerfbeck'', an exhibition with over 60 paintings, landscapes and still lifes, remarking the evolution of her career.<ref>{{cite web|title=Helene Schjerfbeck's exhibition at Royal Academy of Arts |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/helene-schjerfbeck |publisher=[[Royal Academy of Arts]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=Finland's Munch': the unnerving art of Helene Schjerfbeck |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jul/06/helene-schjerfbeck-finnish-painter-royal-academy| work=[[The Guardian]]|date=6 July 2019}}</ref>  The exhibit was the first major exhibition of her work in the UK and was organized by the Royal Academy and the Ateneum Art Museum / [[Finnish National Gallery]], Helsinki.
* From December 5, 2025 to April 5, 2026, the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] will exhibit her work in ''Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck - The Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/seeing-silence-the-paintings-of-helene-schjerfbeck |access-date=2025-08-14 |website=www.metmuseum.org |language=en}}</ref>  The exhibit will include works made over the course of her career and will be her first major museum exhibit in the United States. The exhibit was organized by the Museum in collaboration with the Finnish National Gallery / Ateneum Art Museum. The Metropolitan Museum of Art owns Schjerfbeck’s 1920 painting, ''The Lace Shawl''.

==See also==
* [[Golden Age of Finnish Art]]
* [[Art in Finland]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Ahtola-Moorhouse, Leena, ed. ''Helene Schjerfbeck. 150 Years'' [exhibition catalogue, Konstmuseet Ateneum and Statens Konstmuseum] (2012)
* Marie Christine Tams, 'Dense Depths of the Soul: A Phenomenological Approach to Emotion and Mood in the Work of Helene Schjerfbeck', in ''Parrhesia''; 13 (2011), p.&nbsp;157–176
* Ahtola-Moorhouse, Lena: 'Schjerfbeck, Helene [Helena] (Sofia)', in ''Grove Art Online. [[Oxford University Press]]'' (6 February 2006) http://www.groveart.com/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821130425/http://www.groveart.com./ |date=2008-08-21 }}
* Roberta Smith, 'A Neglected Finnish Modernist Is Rediscovered', in ''The New York Times''; sec. c:27. LexisNexis Academic. LexisNexis. 8 Feb. 2006 http://web.lexisnexis.com/universe {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121155855/http://web.lexisnexis.com/universe/ |date=2008-11-21 }}
* S. Koja, ''Nordic Dawn Modernism's Awakening in Finland 1890-1920'' [exhibition catalogue, Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, and Gemeentemuseum The Hague] (2005)
* Ahtola-Moorhouse, L., 'Helene Schjerfbeck', in ''L'Horizon inconnu: l'art en Finlande 1870-1920'' [exhibition catalogue] (1999)
* Bergström, Lea, and Cedercreutz-Suhonen, Sue: ''Helene Schjerfbeck, Malleja-Modeller-Models, WSOY, Helsinki, Finland, 2003''.
* The Finnish National Gallery Ateneum. ''Helene Schjerfbeck''. Trans. The English Centre. (1992)
* Ahtola-Moorhouse, L., ed. ''Helena Schjerfbeck. Finland's Modernist Rediscovered'' [exhibition catalogue, Phillips Collection Washington and National Academy of Design New York] (1992)
* [http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/index.php/spring08/100-helene-schjerfbeck-het-geheim-van-finland Helene Schjerfbeck: Finland's best-kept secret] ''Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide''.

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|Helene Schjerfbeck}}
* {{BLF}}

{{New Woman (late 19th century)}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schjerfbeck, Helene}}
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1946 deaths]]
[[Category:Artists from Helsinki]]
[[Category:People from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)]]
[[Category:Swedish-speaking Finns]]
[[Category:19th-century Finnish painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Finnish painters]]
[[Category:19th-century Finnish women artists]]
[[Category:Académie Colarossi alumni]]
[[Category:Finnish expatriates in France]]
[[Category:Finnish expatriates in Sweden]]
[[Category:Painters from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:20th-century Finnish women painters]]
[[Category:19th-century women painters]]