August Luiga
(1906–1985)
Departure to Kythera Island. 1943
Oil, plywood. 63 x 82 cm (framed)
Starting price 30 700
The island of Kythera is located in the south of Greece, not far from the Peloponnese peninsula in the sea. In mythology, the island is known as the abode of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who is said to have been born from the sea near the island. The island was also home to the oldest temple in Greece dedicated to her.
Why, in the midst of World War II and societal catastrophes, August Luiga decided to turn to such an exotic and semi-mythological plot is not known. Many artists during the cataclysmic period prefer to create idyllic works that escape the epoch, for example, the works of Ado Vabbe are well known in Estonian art history, when he started painting Italian monks while living in the USSR in the 1950s.
The remarkable painting Embarkation for Cythera by the 18th-century French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau, in which lovers are on an island with little angels flying around them, is also known from art history. There are no parallels between Luiga’s painting and Watteau’s, but a certain dreaminess and desire to leave for an ideal place full of love seem to be common.