Ali Munsterhjelm (Finnish painter) 1873 - 1944
Alarik Gustaf Waldemar (Ali) Munsterhjelm (12 March 1873 Tuulos - 17 March 1944 Hämeenlinna) was a Finnish painter known for his paintings on Turku. His uncle was the painter Hjalmar Munsterhjelm and his son the writer Erik Munsterhjelm. The parents of Munsterhjelm were the estate owner Rudolf Waldemar Munsterhjelm and his 1st wife Julia Mathilda Elisabeth Dahlberg. Munsterhjelm attended the Finnish Art Association's Drawing School in 1888 and 1890-1893. Munsterhjelm then studied at the Académie Julian, Académie Colaross and Académie Deléclus in Paris between 1893 and 1903 and also made study trips to Italy and other Mediterranean countries, as well as to England. He began exhibiting from 1891 until 1943. From 1907 Munsterhjelm lived in Turku and moved from there to Helsinki in 1926. Munstehjelm, known as the "Long-Ali", painted his landscapes largely outdoors; Turku by the banks of the Aura River and Helsinki by the sea and in ports. He had to give up this method of working in the late 1930s after suffering from rheumatoid arthritis . During his colorist period in the 1910s, Munsterhjelm used pure and intense colours in his paintings. Later, his use of colours changed more modestly. He is best known for his paintings depicting the Turku Aurajoki and its surroundings as well as the Turku Cathedral.
