Eeli Alvar Aalto (born 6 February 1931 in Viipuri, Finland, present-day Vyborg, Russia) is a Finnish visual artist and television director.

Youth During the Winter War, Eeli Aalto and his parents fled the war to the Pohjois-Pohjanmaa region, first to Liminka and then to Oulu.Eeli Aalto: 100 kuvaa Oulusta, city of Oulu. Accessed on 20 February 2014. Eeli Aalto became acquainted with art at the age of 10 when he saw paintings by the Liminka-based artist Vilho Lampi.

Career Painting and other visual arts

Aalto studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki and later in Paris, France at the André Lhote academy.

Aalto participated in the frescoes by Lennart Segerstråle at the Rovaniemi Church.Lennart Segerstråle 1892-1975, Eeli Aalto's blog 31 May 2012. Accessed on 20 February 2014. He painted landscapes and city scenarios. In the 1960s Aalto also experimented in abstract art. He designed a large three-part relief ("In the beginning there was the word. The word became flesh ... and lived among us", 1969) between the main entrances at the concrete facade of the Alava Church in Kuopio. In Oulu he participated in getting cultural facilities such as the Oulu University and the Oulu Museum of Art into the city. From 1962 to 1979 Aalto served as teacher of plastic composition at the department of architecture at the Oulu University.

From 1993 to 1998 Aalto painted the series "Sata kuvaa Oulusta" ("One hundred pictures of Oulu"). Eeli Aalto wrote of its birth: "We got refuge in Oulu. Why shouldn't I picture the city that accepted us?" The idea was for every picture to have its own personal meaning.Aalto, Eeli: Kuviensa takana, Books on Demand 2016. . Eeli Aalto used his realistic pictures to show that figurative art had never disappeared anywhere. According to Giorgio Morandi "nothing is as abstract as reality".

Television documents In addition to paintings and sculptures, Aalto made numerous television documents for Yleisradio, such as a document about star singers called Synti suuri surkia in 1980. The document Piina about the artist Alpo Jaakola (1977) was awarded the Jussi Award for best television film.Lindfors, Jukka: Alpo Jaakola oli Loimaan alkuvoimainen samaani, YLE 24 August 2009. Accessed on 20 February 2014.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union Eeli Aalto travelled to his home city of Vyborg in 1991. He said that seeing the city after half a century first felt like descending to a nightmare. "I felt a foreigner, but so did the Russian inhabitants."Lindfors, Jukka: Evakko Eeli Aalto palasi Wiipuriinsa puolen vuosisadan päästä, YLE 13 October 2009. Accessed on 21 September 2019. Eeli Aalto made a documentary film Wiipurini (1992) based on his trip to Vyborg.

Eeli Aalto also made a series of writings and photographs called Viipurinmatka based on his trip, which he also published online in his series "100 kuvaa Oulusta".Aalto, Eeli: Viipurinmatka, city of Oulu. Accessed on 21 September 2019.

Television essayist Jukka Lindfors describes Eeli Aalto's films as personal statements, a kind of television essays or pontifications. "They are often poetic and nostalgic, but they also have quite a lot of fresh humour, acridity and black satire."

According to Lindfors Eeli Aalto's artist documents give away an air of understanding reaching beyond the surface, and each subject is also reflected in the filming and editing of the films. His subjects have often been peculiar marginal characters, creative outsiders. Aalto often also appears in his films himself, sometimes as a fictive character.Lindfors, Jukka: Tv-esseisti Eeli Aalto, YLE. Accessed on 5 January 2020.

Literature and other works Aalto has written two books about artists, of which one is about Vilho Lampi (1969) and the other about Reidar Särestöniemi (1976).

From 1983 to 1988 Eeli Aalto wrote columns in the newspaper Kaleva under the title "Pienet filosofiat". Aalto wrote about four hundred columns and also illustrated them.

Aalto's autobiography Kuviensa takana was published in 2016. It was also published in English (2018) and in Russian accompanied with an article by Anastasia Martynova who had studied Eeli Aalto's works in 2019.

Eeli Aalto was also witness to the Jumalan teatteri act in Oulu in 1987, where the actors threw urine and excrement on the audience.Laukka, Petri: Harvinaisia kuvia Oulun kakanheitosta, Kaleva 20 February 2009. Accessed on 20 February 2014. Aalto was the only member of the audience who watched the act in its entirety and took photographs, which were later used as evidence in a trial against the actors. In February 2009 Aalto published photographs of the act on the Internet, which had never been shown before.Jumalan teatteri 1987-01-17, Eeli Aalto's blog 18 February 2009. Accessed on 20 February 2014.

Private life Aalto lives in Kempele.Mäkelä, Riitta: Kuvia Oulun ja Eeli Aallon juhlaan, Kaleva 2 August 2005. Accessed on 20 April 2013. Aalto's son Simo Aalto is known as a magician,Tie taikuriksi, Simo Aalto Magic. Accessed on 20 February 2014. Aalto's grandchildren Saara and Suvi Aalto are singers and Sari Aalto is a ventriloquist.10 yllättävää faktaa Saara Aallosta, MTV 30 August 2016. Accessed on 19 October 2016.

Awards and recognition Eeli Aalto was awarded an artist's pension in 1994.Eeli Aalto: 100 kuvaa Oulusta, city of Oulu. Accessed on 21 September 2019.

In 2012 Aalto was awarded the Kultainen kaulin ("Golden rolling pin") award for a culturally significant Oulu citizen.Kultainen kaulin -palkinto Eeli Aallolle, Kaleva 23 August 2012. Accessed on 20 February 2014.

Bibliography Aalto, Eeli: Vilho lampi - Lakeuden maalari, Karisto 1969. Aalto, Eeli: Reidar Särestöniemi, WSOY 1976. . Aalto, Eeli: Kuviensa takana, Books on Demand 2016. . Aalto, Eeli: Behind his Pictures, Books on Demand 2018. (in English). Aalto, Eeli: Za yego kartinami, Books on Demand 2019. (in Russian).

Television programs

1966: Vilho Lampi – Lakeuden maalari; Kaupunki 1967: Viimeinen tuomio; Eräs Im Memoriam; Haikara lensi ohi; Hiljaisen miehen maailma 1968: Kuin kamee; Taulu; Lastentaidetta 1969: Hei hei, tämä on totta; 36 000 päivää Oulussa; Elukka 1970: Röijy 1971: Hailuoto, hyvän haltijan saari; Myrrysmies; Kain tapper; Unelma paremmasta elämästä; C-G Lilius 1972: Euroopan mestari; Afrikkalainen keskustelu 1973: Reidarin värilliset aistimukse; Taakkasi on minun 1974: Tyttökauppias 1975: Maalaismaisema; Iso pieni tyttö, Anu Pentik 1977: Kauko Rantalan mustavalkea maailma; Reima Pietilä; Piina 1978: Anna-Leenan jouluaatto 1978: Tuhlaajapojan paluu; Anna-Leenan jouluaatto 1979: Aurinkogalleria 1980: Kerro kerro kuvasti – 6 osaa kuvataiteesta; Synti suuri surkia 1981: Erämaakoira; Paluu Ithakaan; Merkillinen matkakertomus 1982: Häät Kempeleen kirkossa; Mielipiteitä taidekasvatuksesta 1983: Kissa vieköön; Dostojevskin galleria; Lentäjä Non Grata 1984: Rakentamisen draama; Kirstinän runot heräävät; Oulu -10 1985: Muistojeni albumi; Budapest-Rock; Mauno Haartman; Juhani Pallasmaa; Keijo Petäjä 1986: Vuosisadan talvi; Oulun koulu; Yksin; Elämän äänet; Jouni Kesti; Oulun horisontista; Satu Huttunen – Vuoden nainen; Kesäyön oikkuja 1987: Kirkkokatu 50; Punaiset kengät Sodankylässä; Tuhlaajapojan päiväkirja; Kirje maailman katolta; Paskajuttu 1988: Kadonnutta tietoa etsimässä; Taiteen tähden – Veijo Hukka; Itsemurhat; Jorma Uotinen; Erotiikkaa etsimässä; Huippukokous mummolassa; Valmentajan muotokuva; Picasso Tukholmassa; Giorgio Morandi; Matti satujen talossa 1989: Tekstiilin intiimi kosketus; Edvard Much; Simosalabim (5 parts) 1989; Passikuva (4 parts); Tapaaminen Oulussa, Paavo Rintala; Uusikatu 1989 1992: Helene Schjerfbeck Ateneumissa; Alberto Giacometti; Wiipurini; Tuhlaajapoika ja Sokrates 1992–1994: Jokeri pokeri box (32 parts)

References

External links Eeli Aalto - 100 kuvaa Oulusta Eeli Aalto's blog Tv-esseisti Eeli Aalto