The Poet of Snow in Paris: Finnish artist Pekka Halonen… not merely winter landscapes but snowscapes of peace ...The poet of snow has come to Paris in winter. Finnish artist Pekka Halonen was known as the poet of snow – not for his poetry but for his paintings. Pekka Halonen (1865-1933) wasn’t merely interested in snowy scenes as motifs; rather, he saw snow as the spirit of silence Outside Finland, his work hasn’t been as widely seen as that of other Nordic masters like Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Norwegian Edvard Munch. Yet Halonen’s work synthesized European modernism, French plein-air painting, and Asian influences with a devotion to his homeland and has been regarded as an important translator of Finnish culture and nature. Titled “Un Hymne à la Finlande” (“An Anthem to Finland”), this is the first major retrospective in France devoted to Pekka Halonen, a central figure of Finland’s Golden Age of painting who drew “the land itself with a poet’s soul.” The exhibition will continue at the Petit Palais in Paris until 22 February 2026. Born in Lapinlahti in eastern Finland, Halonen grew up in wild nature. After formative artistic training in Helsinki and in Paris from 1890, including a period studying with Paul Gauguin. He returned home in 1895 where he married musician Maija Makinen the same year. They had eight children. He built his wooden studio-house called Halosenniemi on the shores of Lake Tuusula where he lived, worked, and painted. There, surrounded by forests and long winters, he committed himself to painting rural life and the natural world he knew intimately. He said in a 1932 interview for the newspaper Svenska Pressen, “My original source of inspiration is Nature. For thirty years, I have lived in the same place with the forest on my doorstep. I have often felt that I have the equivalent of the Louvre or the greatest treasures of the world within reach. All I have to do is venture into the forest to admire the most beautiful paintings possible, and in this, I need nothing more.” Rather than dramatizing nature, he said, paraphrasing his ethos, “Art should not jar the nerves like sandpaper — it should produce a feeling of peace.” That peace comes through in his snowy fields and forest clearings, with light and atmosphere. In this way, Halonen’s landscapes are about reconnection to the natural world. The collection of his works on display is immense, mostly of snow; vast and pristine with lots of winter white, representing silence and solitude. In their totality, Halonen was not simply painting winter; he was painting solitude as a creative force, focusing less on people and more on their environment. Halonen’s nature scenes include pine woods, melting ice and snow-covered rock gardens; all imbued with a deep sense of belonging to a place. They are meditations on the beauty of an everyday landscape in Finland, and how the smallest natural details can hold the emotions of tradition and culture in the silence of snow. Halonen said that snow absorbs sound, slows movement, and reduces the world to the essentials of light, shadow, and breath. He thought creative solitude was often misunderstood as isolation. Halonen’s paintings suggest that solitude can be fertile and generative as winter prepares the ground for spring. Snow covers, but it also protects. Beneath it, seeds rest and roots gather strength. The words and images of the poet of snow may resonate with creatives. There are seasons when progress is in repose, or seems invisible, or when what we are doing feels small or unseen. Halonen’s snowfields are reassurances that unseen does not mean unimportant. Can’t see the whole article? Want to view the original article? Want to view more articles? Go to Martina’s Substack: The Stories in You and Me More Paris articles are in my Paris website The Paris Residences of James Joyce You're currently a free subscriber to The Stories in You and Me . For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
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Sunday, 8 February 2026
The Poet of Snow in Paris: Finnish artist Pekka Halonen
Saturday, 7 February 2026
Paris café scenes: the street art of Bilal Hamdad
Paris café scenes: the street art of Bilal Hamdad… the ancient traditions of cafés in contemporary times …
Franco-Algerian artist Bilal Hamdad showcases his ability to transform ordinary Paris street scenes into profound moments of reflection through art. Hamdad works from photographs he takes on the streets of the city, and translates them into large-scale oil paintings, focusing on people – people on the footpath, but mainly people in cafés. Bilal Hamdad’s “Paname” exhibition at Petit Palais in Paris from 17 October 2025 to 8 February 2026 is dispersed throughout the permanent exhibitions at Palais art galleries, rather than in one location, but they are distinctive and easily recognizable as contemporary urban art. Born in Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria, in 1987, Hamdad trained in Algeria and France, including at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts de Paris (Paris School of Fine Arts) where he graduated in 2018. One recurring subject in Hamdad’s oeuvre, and a highlight of the “Paname” exhibition, is Parisian café culture. In his works, café scenes aren’t just backdrops but the soul of the city in three themes: terrace moments, universal feelings, and stillness in motion. The terrace moments show the outside café terraces that have become synonymous with urban social life: patrons seated at small tables, a server pausing between them, people in conversations, and dogs sitting near their owners on sunlit pavements or cobblestones. The universal feelings show Hamdad’s café diners checking their smartphones, Perrier bottles on tables, and small accents of colour, such as a red jacket or a bright cap. Hamdad captures stillness in motion as a snapshot in time amid a bustling café atmosphere. It is partly an exploration of social solitude and partly a shared moment of stillness away from urban responsibilities. Hamdad’s café artworks also embody the history of painting. His inspiration comes from French masters like Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) and Édouard Manet (1832-1883), as well as Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). Hamdad’s artworks hang alongside the works of these masters in the Petit Palais galleries. This approach enriches our experience of both the old and the new, revealing that the simple act of sharing a drink at a café table continues to resonate across centuries of artistic expression. Paris is known for its café culture as places where people gather, pause, observe, and reflect. What Bilal Hamdad does in his “Paname” exhibition is to elevate these everyday moments into art that feels deeply social, rooted on ancient traditions but unmistakably contemporary. Can’t see the whole article? Want to view the original article? Want to view more articles? Go to Martina’s Substack: The Stories in You and Me More Paris articles are in my Paris website The Paris Residences of James Joyce Invite your friends and earn rewardsIf you enjoy The Stories in You and Me , share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe. © 2026 MARTINA NICOLLS |
The Poet of Snow in Paris: Finnish artist Pekka Halonen
… not merely winter landscapes but snowscapes of peace ... ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ...
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