Biography of Sini Manninen
Sini Manninen (26 August 1944, Joensuu, Finlande – 23 September 2012, Paris, France) was a Finnish painter and artist, trained at the Académie des Beaux Arts de Helsinki in Finland. She produced the majority of her works in France, where she moved to in 1973, more precisely, to Montmartre region of Paris. Mastering many painting techniques (oil, acrylic, watercolors, ink, and charcoal) under various disciplines, naïve art remained her fondest style.
Family and childhood
A youngest daughter of Elis Olavi Carolus Manninen and Elisabeth Budnik, Sini Manninen grew up in Joensuu, Karelia, where her father officiated as a pastor before becoming a member of Parliament during the 1960s. Later, the family moved several kilometers to the small town of Liperi. The nature and its colors, as well as animals, will became an inexhaustible source of artistic inspiration.
In 1965, she moved to Helsinki to enter the Academy of Fine Arts (Suomen taideakatemia) until 1969. During this time, she trained with other renowned artists such as Saara Tikka, Inari Krohn, Tarja Unkari, Kari Lindström and Risto Vilhunen.
Between 1970 and 1973, she went to work in a herring plant in Norway to earn a living and participated in the Oslo Young Painter’s Association in Norway from 1970 to 1977.
Parisian Life
In 1973, she moved to Montmartre, in Paris, to live with her companion Jacques Blank, also a painter, whom she met in Norway. Sini and Jacques’ everyday life took place at the Place du Tertre.
While living in Paris, she showcased numerous exhibitions, as well as elsewhere in the world. In 1980, Sini Manninen received a grant from the Finnish Foundation to attend the Cité internationale des arts in Paris.
Provincial Life
In 1990, the family moved to Confolens,[4] a small town in the northeast Charente region, where they settled permanently. Sini Manninen actively painted for public and private exhibitions. Nonetheless, in order to make a living, the two artists were forced to keep their small apartment in Montmartre, where they went regularly to continue painting on the Place du Tertre. She died on September 23, 2012 (aged 68) of a pulmonary infection.
Exhibitions
1973-1977
– Gallery II, Stavanger, Norvège
– Salon international « Paris Sud »
– Salon d’Automne Paris, France
– Cannes International, France
– XXVe Grand Prix International de Peinture de Deauville, Deauville, France
– Salon International des Beaux Arts, Paris, France
– Salon des Indépendants, Paris
– Art Center, Västeräs, Suède
1978
– Salon d’automne, Paris, France
– Exposition à la Mairie du IVe arrondissement de Paris, France
– Grand Prix International de Peinture de Deauville, Deauville, France
– Exposition Jeune Peinture – Jeune Expression, Paris
– Exposition Privée « Docent Duk » Stockholm, Suède
1979
– Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France
– Salon des Artistes Français, Paris
– Exposition Jeune Peinture – Jeune Expression, Paris
– Exposition Privée à Västeräs et Stockholm, Suède
1980
– Exposition à la Mairie du XVIIIe arrondissement de Paris, France
– Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France
– Exposition Jeune Peinture – Jeune Expression, Paris
– Exposition Privée à Västeräs, Suède
1981
– Exposition à la Mairie du XVIIIe arrondissement de Paris, France
-Exposition à l’Atelier 74, Paris
– Exposition à la Mairie du XIIIe arrondissement de Paris, France
– Exposition à la Cité Internationale des Arts de Paris, France
– Exposition Privée, Helsinki, Finlande
1982
– Exposition à la Mairie du XVIIe arrondissement de Paris, France
– Salon des Artistes Français, Paris
– Exposition Privée, Ibi, Espagne
1985
– Exposition Gallery Lawrence Ross, Los Angeles, Etats Unis
1986
– Exposition au Musée d’art Naïf Max Fourny, Paris Montmartre
1988
– Exposition à la Cité internationale des Arts, à Paris,
– XVIIe « Salon », Rueil-Malmaison, Paris
1989
– XVIIIe « Salon », Rueil-Malmaison, Paris, salle Pleyel, Public Show, Paris
1990
– Salon International d’Art Naïf, Marie du IVe arrondissement, Paris
1991
– Exposition des donateurs, Musée de la ville de Matanzas, Cuba
1992
– International Show of Naive Painter Art, Paris
– Private painting Show, Galerie Cheize d’Or, Poitiers
1993
– Exposition « 3 en 1 », mairie de Confolens, Charente, France
– European Naifs, Holdsworth Galleries, Australie
– IIIe Exposition Internationale de Pontivy, France
1994
– International Show of Naive Painter Art, Paris
– Exposition privée, Galerie Cheize d’Or, Poitiers
1995
– Ve Exposition Internationale de Pontivy, France
– Exposition privée, Galerie Bröms, Helsinki Finlande
1996
– Exposition privée, Galerie Cheize d’Or, Poitiers
1997
– Exposition privée, Alicante, Espagne
– Study Benaiton, Angoulême, France
1998
– Exposition privée, Pyysaari, Helsinki, Finlande
1999
– Exposition collective, CNBDI, Angoulême, France
– Exposition privée, Alicante, Espagne
– Exposition privée, Confolens, Charente, France
1999-2002
– Exposition Gallery Broms, Liperi, Finlande
2002
– Exposition collective d’Art Naïf, Saint Junien, France
2003
– Exposition privée, Pyysaari, Helsinki, Finlande
2005
– Exposition privée, Galerie Broms, Helsinki, Finlande
2006
– Festival d’Art Naïf, Saint Junien
– Exposition collective d’Art Naif de Montivilliers, France
– Festival d’Art Naif, Verneuil sur Avre
2011
– Exposition collective,”La Balade des Naïfs”, The Connoisseur’s Gallery , Paris VIe arrt7
2012
– Exposition collective, Association Art Montmartre, salle paroissiale de l’église Saint Pierre de Montmartre
2013
– Exposition privée, Pyysaari, Helsinki, Finlande
2017
– Exposition privée, galerie de la Fontorse, Confolens
– Exposition privée, Mairie de Confolens
2018
– Exposition privée, galerie de la Fontorse
– Exposition privée, Maison des créateurs, Saint Germain de Confolens
2019
-Coming soon!