Frans Alvar Alfred Cawén was a visual artist born in Korpilahti in central Finland in 1886. He was the son of the Reverand Frans Cawén and Eleanora Cawén (née Boije af Gennas), both of whom were interested in music and art. As a young man Cawén studied at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts between 1905−1907, and in Paris from 1908−1909 at the studio of Simon Cottet. He had his first exhibition in Finland in 1910, but in 1912 he returned to Paris and stayed until 1914.

     Cawén's early colorism from this period was related to both of the major -isms of the day, a fusion of impressionism and expressionism. His oil paintings were complemented by a series of early watercolors, created by a technique of the artist's own making. The colors were applied to paper on a chalk base to allow them to have a fresco-look, a dryness and peculiarity of craquelure.

     In late 1916 he became a founding member of the "November Group", a Finnish group of expressionists and cubists and one of the most important artist groups in Finnish history. After the first World War he traveled in 1919 to Denmark, Italy, Spain and France, and in that year became a teacher at the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Society, where he continued to teach until 1921.

     Cawén was deeply attached to his mother, as evidenced by numerous portraits of her. Perhaps the most beautiful are the small sketches made by his mother's deathbed. Upon her passing, Cawén married the artist Ragni Holmberg who continued to paint during their marriage. Cawén described it as, "my spouse's willpower to do the same (paint)." And although she could paint with joy and entheusiasm, for him art was and remained, "an extreme effort, a struggle."

     In 1924 they traveled to Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1929 he became a member of the Fine Art Academy of Finland, and from then until 1935 he was chairman of the Artists' Association of Finland. In Finland, the Cawéns lived near Porvoo at Ilola (his mother's childhood home). Among his works of this period are altarpieces for churches in Mänttä, Kuusankoski, Lapinlahti, and Simpele.

     In 1978 a biography of the artist was printed in conjunction with a retrospective exhibition at the Finnish National Gallery, Hämeenlinna Art Museum, Turun Art Museum and the Keski-Suomen Museum. In the catalog the artist work is described as "village cubism" based on his modest upbringing in Korpilahti. The description of his early life and career continues: "Cawén used as his models mostly loved ones and a faithful servant Eva-Stiina, who had been in the family in his childhood home in Korpilahti. He was very attached to his sister's children and he took care of them as was needed. In the lands of Ilola, Cawén wandered dozens of kilometers with his hunting dogs, more perhaps for the wandering than for prey. Pike fishing and mushroom picking were also amusements in which Cawén eagerly indulged. He could also successfully pose as a chef. When the family gathered around an oil lamp to clean the mushrooms, he told stories with a fascinating entheusiasm. Later when he and his uncle Knut Boije really began to enjoy themselves at the dinner table, the whole party would fall silent to listen, before bursting into loud roars."

     In 2015 The Tampere Art Museum held an exhibition of works by Cawén and his wife, Ragni Cawén.

     The artist is represented in these public institutions:

• The National Gallery of Finland

• Espoo Museum of Modern Art

• National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo

• Kadriorg Art Museum

• Suomen Taiteen Museum Ateneum

• Söderlångvik Museum

• Art Museum of Estonia