Hugo Simberg is one of Finland's foremost artists of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, best known for his symbolist paintings and graphic works. Simberg was born in Hamina (Fredrikshamn), roughly 90 miles east of Helsinki.
Simberg studied at the Drawing School of the Viipuri Friends of Art, at the Drawing School of the Finnish Society and was also a private pupil of the great Finnish artist, Akseli Gallen-Kallela.
Simberg is particularly well known for his representations of death, angels and devils. His painting 'Wounded angel' depicting two boys carrying an angel on a stetcher is a trademark of Nordic symbolism and very popular in various cover designs and illustrations.
Simberg travelled extensively in his short life time, across Europe, to North Africa (using funds from a scholarship) and to New York.
In 1904, Simberg was commissioned to decorate the interior of St.John's Church in Tampere (now Tampere Cathedral) where he produced both murals and designed the stained glass windows. The fresco paintings aroused considerable controversy at the time notably Simberg's painting of a winged serpent on a red background in the highest point of the ceiling which some contemporaries interpreted as a symbol of sin and corruption.
The largest collection of Simberg's works is at the Ateneum, the National Gallery of Finland.