Nigul Espe
(1907–1970)
Construction of a New Main Street in Tartu. 1950
Watercolor. Vm 39 x 61 cm (framed)
price 3 600
The destruction of Tartu and its restoration were very common themes in Estonian painting in the 1940s. The painters’ hometown and favourite city suffered a catastrophe, and documenting it was both painful and therapeutic for the artists, allowing them to live out the pain. Interest in the rebuilding of Tartu was already a little more subdued, as it was often a controversial activity: instead of rebuilding, half-destroyed houses were often demolished, and German prisoners of war were forced to do it. This painting, however, tries to create an image of the enthusiastic citizens of Tartu who have come to build a new city. The patriotic spirit is further underlined by a large banner on the front wall of 1 Ülikooli street.
Separate movies were made of the reconstruction of Tartu in 1949, with women digging with shovels and the reconstruction supervised by Tartu’s chief architect Arnold Matteus. This Nigul Espe’s work does not have a supervisor, the townsfolk are as if on a field trip. The fascination of Espe’s painting lies first and foremost in its documentary quality, as it captures a number of details that were characteristic of the era but have now been forgotten, from the buses and tractors of the time to the slogan on the wall.