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Estonian Art in 1960-1970s

Spring 2009
1960s and 1970s was the time of discovery in the Estonian art. A lot of new and interesting happened and the art community claimed some entirely new territories.  Although the curtain was made of iron, some fresh air found its way to the inside and young students from ERKI (Estonian State Art Institute), among others, brought in phenomena that no-one had heard of before. At the same time a certain national-conservative attribute had preserved, giving new appreciation, in both subject and in form, to the past achievements of the 1930s. The relationships between those two fronts were sometimes empathic and sometimes tense, but art was certainly alive with an unprecedented thrust. It is probably the most explorative period in the history of Estonian art during the 20th century.  
As mentioned before, the period was interesting not only because of experimentation, but the co-existence of various movements, all heading in different directions.  In this auction, the period starts with the work “Tartu Stone Bridge (1960)” and ends with the painting “Rocks (1979)” – these are definitely not the most avant-garde titles. A certain flavour of the era is conveyed by the mere fact of depicting the rocks and stone bridges. The one who painted a bridge in 1960, a bridge that was blown up a long time ago, was painting something that did not exist any more – a lost world with lost stones.  And the one who creates a beautiful view of the sea – a true favourite in Estonian painting – and places three huge rocks in front of in such a way that you cannot really see anything – was making a not-so-subtle suggestion that the iron curtain can be made of stone as well.
However, artists did not mind telling stories about the life behind that curtain. Scenes of everyday life do not seem so alien any more. Works rising above the rest get their inspiration from the Estonian ways and values. For example, people and sea are tied together in depiction of a shipyard (Evi Tihemets, “Repairs to a Ship”, 1963), a harbour (Märt Bormeister, “Fishing Boats on the Shore, 1964”), life in a fishing village (Concordia Klar, “Fishing Net Cleaners, 1962“), or at least they show the viewer the way to the beach (Esther Roode, „Road to Treimani Beach, 1962”). The inclination of leaving is no longer present, nor is there any talk about hidden longing for faraway lands. The style of painting is not that festive any more; the authors are more down-to-earth, and down-to-earth is how they portray life: simply, clearly, with a lot of empathy.
Despite the many variations of the avant-garde, the traditional nature imagery has been able to hold its ground as well. In the 1960s and 1970s, when the whole western world heard the proclamations of young people to start living closer to nature, these slogans were painted up here as well, although the reasoning behind it was miles away from that of the hippies. The latter saw nature as a possibility to overcome the gap left by the modern era between them and the natural way of life, but Richard Uutmaa (“The Beach, 1966”; “Beach in North Estonia, 1962”), Richard Sagrits (“Pines, 1962”, “Karepa Bridge, 1964”) or Alfred Kongo (“Landscape, 1973”) had never even felt such a gap. For them the closeness to nature was the only option and through their paintings it was manifested as something very Estonian. The officials would certainly have preferred if the artists would concentrate more on the chimneys of a brick factory or new apartment complexes, but instead we see things that just feel right: pine-trees, bridges, forests beaches, rivers, mushrooms, flowers and the like. Surely, in the works of Kongo, Uutmaa and others you can already sense that some of the topics are not so trendy and are composed in a form which is understood by themselves and older people, as the young ones are already craving for something else.
It is interesting that this “something else” often originates from the same nature. Olav Maran’s “South Estonian Landscape (1964)” is a good example: The landscape is just as idyllic as before, but the forms have started to shift, here and there they look more like geometric shapes than hills in the distance. Or  “In the Evening Light (1974)“, belonging to Toomas Vint’s early period, where instead of the nature’s sweet delight you can feel a metaphysical sense of emptiness. Everything is in order, the lighting is at the right temperature, the bushes are the right colour - but in spite of everything, the painting is a far cry from what a few decades older people thought nature should be. “Tree at Sunset (1976)” by Jüri Arrak is the last outpost of nature distortion in Estonian art: you cannot possibly take it any further. Arrak, who a year earlier could still picture different objects very realistically with a clear conscience, is offering us a classical motif in an entirely unrecognizable manner. The importance lies now within the suggestion power of his vision: Are the colours and the form convincing enough, independent enough to rise above the nature?
Similar parallels, where artists touch the same topics but reach a totally different conclusion, can be pointed out more.  Aleksander Möldroo pictures a studio (“Artist’s Studio”, 1960s) in a happy manner; he offers pure joy without any particular intellectual effort.  Jüri Arrak’s “Room in the Morning (1972/2008)” and “Room in the Afternoon (1972/2008)” are filled with all sorts of signs and symbols. In one case the room is an interior full of sunlight, in the other case it is a Space that avoids historic certainty of any kind, filling up with anything but ordinary.
Or have a look at how differently the representatives of these two directions have used objects in their work. Märt Bormeister paints mushrooms (“Still Life with Mushrooms”, 1963) and Magda Bormeister paints flowers (“Cyclamen“, 1964), but the artists of a younger generation are attracted to totally different motifs. They are assertive to create worlds of their own, ones that you wouldn’t able to take back to the gray environment.  Aili Vint’s rare and truly chic pieces (“Lips“, 1967; ”Flash“, 1973) or Avo Keerend’s imaginative “White Glove (1972)“ gives a totally different meaning to the term still life; by no means true to an object, it is pure fantasy. That’s the weapon the young used for underlining their intellectual self-confidence. The group ANK’64 (with Jüri Arrak and Aili Vint as members) announced building their own aesthetic worlds as their slogan. They did not want a mushroom or a stretch of beach determining the value of their art. Matters had to be taken into their own hands; they had to trust their view of the world and ability for generalization. 
The public reacted to this quest quite appropriately. Of course we cannot talk about the appearance of significant art collections comprised of contemporary art, but we can talk about a high number of visitors at the exhibitions. The thirst for art and culture in its broader sense was exceptional. The theatres were full, books were printed in large numbers and the line-ups at bookstores were longer than those waiting for smoked sausage. The same happened to art. At a time when the whole national identity and personal freedom were under strong pressure, people did find their support in art. On one hand it was a desire to prove that Estonia and the Estonian mindset have not disappeared. A totally innocent Saadjärve landscape could have had an extraordinarily deep meaning. And true enough: Even the artists set it up as their conscious agenda. For example Alfred Kongo, who had been demonstratively silent during the 1950s, painted landscapes in such a late impressionist style that they could have belonged to both the 1970s and the 1930s at the same time….
On the other hand it was understood that the possibility for freedom was the greatest in art. The attempt of flattening the whole society, including the art community, left creative pursuits as the closest to what could be described as “freedom”. That’s why the art exhibitions were visited more than any time afterwards. A middle-aged friend of mine recalled lately, how often his mother took him to art shows. The purpose was simple. Not to bring the boy up to be an Estonian – but to bring him up to be a human being.

In our auction selection this period is represented by the following works:


RICHARD KALJO (1914–1978)
Tartu kivisild. 1960
Tartu Stone Bridge. 1960

EVALD OKAS (s 1915) 
Lapsed. 1960
Children. 1960

VOLDEMAR VÄLI (1909–2007)
Etüüd saare kalasadamast. 1960
Study of an Island Fishing Harbour. 1960

RICHARD SAGRITS (1910–1968)
Männid. 1962
Pine Trees. 1965

CONCORDIA KLAR (1938–2004)
Võrgupuhastajad. 1962
Fishing Net Cleaners. 1962

RICHARD UUTMAA (1905–1977)
Rand Põhja-Eestis. 1962
Beach in North Estonia. 1962

ESTHER ROODE (1923–2007)
Tee Treimani randa. 1962
Road to Treimani Beach. 1962

EVI TIHEMETS (s 1932)
Laeva remont. 1963
Repairs to a Ship. 1963

ENDEL KÕKS (1912–1983)
Electronics XXXVI. 1963
Electronics XXXVI. 1963

EVALD OKAS (s 1915) 
Geiša. 1963
Geisha. 1963

MÄRT BORMEISTER (1916–1991)
Vaikelu seentega. 1963
Still Life with Mushrooms. 1963

MAGDA BORMEISTER (1918–1995)
Alpikannid. 1964
Cyclamen. 1964

MÄRT BORMEISTER (1916–1991)
Kalatraalerid rannal. 1964
Fishing Boats on the Shore. 1964

RICHARD SAGRITS (1910–1968)
Karepa sild. 1964
Karepa Bridge. 1964

HENNO ARRAK (s 1930)
Hommik äärelinnas. 1964
Morning in the Suburbs. 1964

JÜRI ARRAK (s 1936)
Petseri. 1964
Petseri. 1964

OLAV MARAN (s 1933)
Lõuna-Eesti maastik. 1964
South Estonian Landscape. 1964

NIGUL ESPE (1907–1970)
Emajõe luhal. 1965
On the Wetlands of Emajõgi. 1965

ALEKSANDER MÖLDROO (1902–1991)
Kunstniku töötuba. 1960ndad
Artist’s Studio. 1960s

RICHARD UUTMAA (1905–1977)
Rand. 1966
Beach. 1966

JÜRI ARRAK (s 1936)
Puu päikeseloojangul. 1967
Tree at Sunset. 1967

AILI VINT (s 1941)
Huuled. 1967
Lips. 1967

RICHARD UUTMAA (1905–1977)
Sügismaastik jõega. 1969
Autumn Landscape with a River. 1969

AVO KEEREND (s 1920)
Valge kinnas. 1972
White Glove. 1972

VALDUR OHAKAS (1925–1998)
Antiik. 1972
Antique. 1972

JÜRI ARRAK (s 1936)
Tuba hommikul. 1972/2008
Room in the Morning. 1972/2008

JÜRI ARRAK (s 1936)
Tuba keskpäeval. 1972/2008
Room in the Afternoon. 1972/2008

JOHANNES UIGA (1918–1998)
Pühajärv. 1973
Lake Pühajärv. 1973

ALFRED KONGO (1906–1990)
Maastik. 1973
Landscape. 1973

AILI VINT (s 1941)
Viiv. 1973
Flash. 1973

TOOMAS VINT (s 1944)
Õhtuvalguses. 1974
In the Evening Light. 1974

VLADIMIR MAKARENKO (s 1943)
Kompositsioon figuuridega. 1974
Composition with Figures. 1974

VLADIMIR MAKARENKO (s 1943)
Kompositsioon kassiga. 1970ndad
Composition with a Cat. 1970s

PRIIDU AAVIK (1905–1991)
Kivid. 1979
Rocks. 1979


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