The Saimaa Seal Trail art path point 6

PUUMALAART PATH

Geological heritage in the Finnish landscape art

Stunning sandy beaches

Hugo Simberg (1873-1917): Sandy beach, Niemenlautta (46x53 cm), Ateneum Art Museum. Photo: Finnish National Gallery. 

Albert Edelfelt (1854-1905): Beach Landscape, Tree Root, 1887-1892, Ateneum Art Museum. Photo: Finnish National Gallery.

Various formations typical to shores are mainly the result of shore forces eroding and depositing material. When the water level falls as a result of land uplift, for example, new land for shore forces to erode and deposit is revealed. This is how the shorelines form one below another in the terrain.

Albert Edelfelt’s watercolor work on the beach depicts a steep erosion beach bank eroded by shore forces. Such erosion banks can be found in the Saimaa Geopark sites, such as Pistohiekka in Puumala.

Previous | Next

Start page

THE SAIMAA SEAL TRAIL ART PATH

Finnish landscape art has through the ages depicted lakes, sparkling rapids, rocky cliffs, winding esker ridges, erratic boulders and bouldery insides of the woods. Many of the paintings also outline the geology of the landscape quite accurately when viewed with “geological glasses”. Let's follow the path through the landscapes of the Saimaa seal trail, combining geology and art! Along the path, there are eight checkpoints through which the geological secrets of landscape paintings are revealed.