Fritz Jacobsson: Portrait of Esko Riepula

Fritz Jacobsson, 2001.

The University Of Lapland's Collection

147 x 116,5 cm.

Fritz Jacobsson (born 1940) is a self-taught painter and one of the most famous and the most productive portrait painters in Finland. Jacobsson’s best-known portraits include Portrait of Queen Silvia of Sweden and Portrait of Pope John Paul II. He has also painted portraits of a number of executives of large Finnish corporations and other leading figures in industry and commerce. In addition to portraits, the artist’s oeuvre includes landscape paintings and still-lifes.

The Portrait of Esko Riepula is an example of what is known as a statesman’s portrait. In the painting, Esko Riepula, who served as the first rector of the University of Lapland, is standing solemnly, clad in the rector’s gown and wearing the rector’s chain of office. The rector’s gown and the rector’s chain of office are symbols of the university that the rector wears during traditional academic festivities such as the opening ceremony of the academic year and the ceremonial conferment of doctoral degrees. This gives justification and motivation to depict these symbols in the portrait as well. Introduced in 1987, the rector’s chain of office depicted in the painting has been designed by master goldsmith Juha Janger. It is made of silver and consists of 22 pieces whose form reflects wind-shaped snow formations. The University of Lapland’s snow crystal logo is placed at the centre front and repeated at the centre back of the chain.

Riepula is immediately recognisable in the portrait. Jacobsson’s painting technique renders the painting a nearly photorealistic appearance. This photographic quality can be seen, for example, in the way the model’s face has been rendered. The background of the portrait has a more painterly appearance: It has been rendered in a scintillating dialogue between yellow and blue.