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TEXT SIX The hauntingpaintings of Helene Schjerfbeck, on show in the final leg of a travelling tourthat has already attracted thousands of visitors in Hamburg and The Hague, maycome as a surprise to many. Few outside the Nordic world would recognise thework of this Finnish artist who died in 1946. More people should. The 120 workshave at their core 20 self-portraits, half the number she painted in all. Thefirst, dated 1880, is of a wide-eyed teenager eager to absorb everything. Thelast is a sighting of the artists ghost-to-be; Schjerfbeck died the year after it was made. Together thisseries is among the most moving and accomplished autobiographies-in-paint. Precociouslygifted, Schjerfbeck was 11 when she entered the Finnish Art Societys drawing school. TheWounded Warrior in the Snow , a history painting, was bought by a privatecollector and won her a state travel grant when she was 17. Schjerfbeck studiedin Paris, went on to Pont-Aven, Brittany, where she painted for a year, then toTuscany, Cornwall and St Petersburg. During her 1887 visit to St Ives,Cornwall, Schjerfbeck painted The Convalescent . A child wrapped ina blanket sits propped up in a large wicker chair, toying with a sprig. Thepicture won a bronze medal at the 1889 Paris World Fair and was bought by theFinnish Art Society. To a modern eye it seems almost sentimental and isredeemed only by the somewhat stunned, melancholy expression on the childs face, which may have beeninspired by Schjerfbecks early experiences. At four, she fell down a flight of steps and neverfully recovered. | 
