Juho Rissanen

Juho Vilho Rissanen was born in Kuopio on March 9, 1873. Raised in bitter poverty after his alcoholic father froze to death on a lake, Rissanen worked as a decorative house painter before studying under Albert Edelfelt and Ilya Repin in Saint Petersburg.

Using heavy, primitive contours and earthy washes, Rissanen's monumental works like The Blind Woman (Haudalla) and Memory of Childhood won a bronze medal at the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition. He designed grand stained-glass windows for the Bank of Finland and Helsinki City Hall, living his final years in the United States.