Visual arts | The New York Times praises the mysterious Finnish artist who died in 2022

American magazine The New York Times introduces the late Finnish artist in his extensive article Iria Leinon a career and a home that served as a studio.

The artist, who died in 2022, left behind more than 1,000 works of art, and hundreds of works can still be found in his loft apartment in New York.

Leino is now relevant, as his abstract works are on display at Harper’s art gallery in Manhattan in September and October.

In the article, Leino is described as a pioneer and his art as a “dizzying mix of styles”.

Leino was born in Helsinki in 1932. Her original name was Irja Aira Leino.

In the 1960s, Leino moved to Paris and then to New York to study art. For a long time he had a studio and a home in a former industrial building in the SoHo area of ​​Manhattan.

“When I walked into the apartment, I felt as if I had walked into the golden age of New York’s art life”, describes the director of the Finnish New York Cultural Institute, who was interviewed in an article in The New York Times. Kati Laaksowho visited Leino’s apartment shortly after his death.

According to the newspaper, Leino’s apartment is going up for sale, but the date is not yet known.

Iria Leino’s art photographed in 2002. Picture: Stina Snällström

Leino also made a career as a model. He did not seek commercial success with his art, but thought that he served a “higher metaphysical purpose” as an artist, the Harper’s gallery in the introductory text let’s tell.

Leino protected his own creative space and did not like to welcome guests into his home, his acquaintances say in an article in The New York Times. Former assistant Corbin Lane recalls that “Leino could sound very rude because of his accent”.

Leino had dual citizenship of Finland and the United States. In Finland, Leino’s work was exhibited for the first time in 1977 at the Amos Anderson Art Museum.