Sigrid af Forselles
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4 May 1860
Sigrid af Forselles | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sigrid af Forselles, c. late 1880s | |
| Born | Sigrid Maria Rosina af Forselles 4 May 1860 |
| Died | 16 January 1935 (aged 74) Florence, Italy |
| Known for | Sculpture |
Sigrid af Forselles (1860—1935) was a Finnish sculptor, notable for being one of the first professional female sculptors of the country.[1]
Sigrid af Forselles was born to an upper-class family of minor nobility; her father was the engineer, inventor, retired Colonel, and Director-General of Metsähallitus, Alexander af Forselles, and her mother Emilie Sofie Jacquette née Waenerberg.[2][3] Her younger brother was Arthur af Forselles, who later became a physician and politician.[2]
She was first educated at a private German-language girls' school in Finland, followed by a year at a finishing school in Vevey in Switzerland, although she did not particularly excel at either.[3]
Af Forselles began her art studies at the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Society (Suomen Taideyhdistyksen piirustuskoulu), now part of the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, from 1876 to 1880.[4] Her main interest already then was sculpture, but it was not formally taught in Finland at the time, so she studied drawing instead. After graduation, she moved into sculpture, training at first privately under the Finnish sculptor Robert Stigell, and later, from 1882 to 1886, in Paris with Auguste Rodin, Alfred Boucher, and others.[4] From there she moved to Florence to continue her studies for another four years.[4][3]
