Male Torso
Artist(s):Yrjö Liipola
Date:1920
Medium:sandstone
Dimensions:ht. 52 cm
Yrjö Liipola’s sandstone sculpture was one of the first art donations the University received in 1922. Stylistically, the work is closest to 1920s Classicism with elements of Art Deco. It exudes physical power in the spirit of modern Vitalism.
Yrjö Liipola (1881–1971) came from the municipality of Koski in Southwest Finland. He studied at the Turku Drawing School in 1899–1901, where his teacher was Elias Muukka, and travelled to Italy on a study excursion soon afterwards. In 1904, he left the country because of his stance against conscription and ended up living and working in Hungary for thirty years. In 1921, he organised an exhibition of his works from the previous year at Stenman’s Art Palace in Helsinki. The artist’s extensive oeuvre comprises numerous portraits, as well as war memorials, liberty statues (Civil War memorials), and other public monuments.
Tutta Palin 2024
Consistory meeting minutes, 15 November 1922.
Jäntere, Kaarlo. Turun yliopiston perustaminen. Helsinki: Oy. Suomen kirja, 1942.
Lindgren, Liisa. “Liipola, Yrjö (1881–1971).” Kansallisbiografia online publication, 11 October 2005. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/1284.