On 5 March, Åland Post pays tribute to Åland artist Henrik Nylund with a bold issue in the 2020 series of Sepac stamps featuring artwork in national collections and issued by the small European postal administrations.
Henrik Nylund (1945–1982) lived to be only 36, but during his relatively short life and artistic career of barely 10 years, he made a lasting imprint in the Åland worlds of art and culture.
Born on Föglö, he remained loyal to this archipelago island throughout his life. Debuting as artist in 1971, he was entirely autodidact. At the same time, he took an active part in the local cultural and theatrical life, and his strong societal engagement led him to the Åland Parliament for a period in the mid-1970s.
As a productive and versatile artist, he created simple drawings as well as monumental paintings. His greatest sources of inspiration were nature and the archipelago, which he studied intensively and in detail. In drawings and paintings of stones, grass, birds and eggs, he alternated between the smallest and largest scales, working in ink as well as in oil and watercolour. Not entirely naturalistic in his style, non-figurative and abstract painting suited him well as is illustrated in the 1976 triptych featured on the stamp. The so- called Sabina triptych was made of acrylic on panels and made on commission for Restaurant Sabina, previously located in Mariehamn. Today, the large painting in three panels is on display at the Parliament of Åland as an element of the collections of the Åland Art Museum.
