Very sad at heart we hereby announce the sudden passing of our artist and dear friend Yrjö Edelmann. Our deepest sympathy and warmest thoughts go to his wife and son.
Yrjö Edelmann wasn’t only a great artist but also a colorful and warm person. He seemed always to be in a good mood, close to laughter and often with a new joke to tell.
The artist Yrjö Edelmann is our time’s master of the ”trompe l’œil” painting. ”I just want them to feel like: What! Is it painted!” he once said – and he succeeded indeed. Wherever his paintings were exposed he fooled the eye of the spectator.
Born in Helsinki, Finland in 1941 Yrjö Edelmann moved with his family to Sweden in 1950. After military service he worked as an illustrator, however the painting took over and in 1973 he had his first exhibition with photo-realistic and surrealistic paintings at Galleri Jan Eric Löwenadler in Stockholm.
A few years later he discovered his talent to paint paper. Subsequently he found his theme and started to paint parcels wrapped in different kinds of wreckled paper, fastened with string or tape. This motif gives the artwork a third dimension since it leaves the viewers to imagine the content of the parcel, eventhough the mysterious creative title gives us a hint.
Art lovers and collectors worldwide have been fascinated by Yrjö Edelmann’s work which has been shown at more than a hundred exhibitions, mainly in Europe and in the USA but also in Japan and Singapore. During the last years he has had a great deal of attention from international press, PR agencies as well as trend accounts on Instagram. He has even inspired the fashion designer Marija Pinjuh who made a special Yrjö Edelmann collection, spring 2015.
It is really hard to understand that a person so spiritual, creative and young at heart is no longer with us. We will indeed miss you Yrjö and your work will continue to fascinate us.
Thomas, Karl-Johan, Katarina & Ludvig