RT Journal
A1 Harris JC
T1 THe convalescent
JF Archives of General Psychiatry
JO Archives of General Psychiatry
YR 2009
FD January 1
VO 66
IS 1
SP 10
OP 11
DO 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2008.529
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2008.529
AB 
Helene Schjerfbeck's (1862-1946) painting The Convalescentwon a first-class bronze medal at the 1889 World Fair in Paris.3It was purchased by the Finnish Art Society for its collection at the Ateneum Art Museum in the year of its completion. It was soon dubbed ‘pearl of the Ateneum.’2(p9)For a 26-year-old artist to achieve such recognition was exceptional. The painting had been exhibited earlier the same year at the Paris Salon as The First Greening (Première verdure), signifying the hope of an approaching spring.3However, given Schjerfbeck's personal history, its subsequent and enduring name, The Convalescent, is more appropriate. Schjerfbeck's biographers suggest that she poured pent-up emotions into it, drawing on her long history of both illness and recuperation.1- 2