There are surprisingly few problems incorporating the 19th century Baltic-German art into the Estonian national art history. Blood ties – like in the case of Oskar Hoffmann, whose parents came from a somewhat estonianized family of German craftsmen – or location ties, according to which a few of the Baltic-German authors were born in Estonia – are enough to claim Dücker, Bochmann, Hoffmann or Gebhardt as our own. By the way, a question has been raised during the past few years about how much of a Baltic-German was Hoffmann and how much of an Estonian was Paul Burman, who did not know much Estonian till the day he died.
The fact remains that the intricacy of the Baltic-Germans’ ties to Estonia can be considered their trump.  On the international arena, Bochmann or Dücker are undoubtedly better known names than Vabbe or Vint, even though for us the meanings cannot be compared. It is not a question of who is better: Bochmann and Dücker, who carried on their trade in Germany, accumulated themselves more emblematic “shares” than those working in Estonia. On the other hand it is the question of being good: Bochmann and Dücker were good painters. Two of Bochmann’s superb pieces on semi-mundane themes are already influenced by the 19th century realism, where the focus was shifted off the grand historical events or myths and turned to field workers or fishermen, discovering the oh-so-idyllic scenes and interesting down-to-earth motifs! What a world of possibilities for discovering new palettes, using the brush in a different way!
A couple of decades earlier the art preferences were quite different. Eugen Dücker’s marvellous Rügen landscape is so mesmerizing, that art proves to be more beautiful than life. Dücker is painting the ideal, not the reality. And who could blame an artist who addresses ideals?
Paul Sepp, so far relatively unknown figure in the Estonian art history, had an interesting fate.  When the newspaper “Postimees“congratulated him on his 60th birthday in 1934, they only devoted him a few lines. During his studies in St. Petersburg – this painting belongs to the same period – Sepp was an artist indeed. His somewhat old-fashioned still life creates a strange parallel with a piece from Olev Subbi, completed a hundred and twelve years later: the works of both artists follow ideals that are at the time considered invalid or out-of-date. These notions are proved premature by those paintings. That’s why it is sad that Sepp later gave up his creative quest and dedicated himself to be a teacher, an official and a bitter enemy Ants Laikmaa.
For obvious reasons, the origins of art collecting in Estonia do not correspond to the same timeframe as elsewhere in the world. In order to collect art, the art has to be professional, high quality and convertible. The early 20th century is generally considered to be the beginning of Estonian national art, although collections started to appear earlier than that. 
Many art collections are known from the 19th century, probably most notable being the one belonging to professor in the St. Petersburg academy of art and court painter Carl Timoleon von Neff (1804–1876). He owned the manorial estates of Piira and Muuga, both filled with statues, paintings and artefacts. When the collection was auctioned off in 1928 due to some unsuccessful financial dealings of his heirs, the list included close to 70 works. To be honest, most of them were home-made copies of famous masterpieces, so according to today’s standards the collection was somewhat bizarre.”It can be a total hack job, but it has to be an original”, writes Mati Unt in his short novel “Debt” in 1964. “Just like my old man. He has heard that reproductions are in bad taste and now he nails all kinds of still lives on the walls of the apartment.”  This shows how different conceptions there can be in what comes to a good art collection. 
Still, in Neiff’s case it was an art collection in the best meaning of the word. He did not put much stress on the works of his contemporaries, that’s why you won’t find anything there by other Baltic-Germans – such as Bochmann or Dücker. Already then, collecting art did not mean only collecting beautiful objects. Besides serving the purpose of decorating the manor houses, the works of art stood for “something else”. When the collection was sent to the auction 40 years after the owner had passed away, upon introducing the works, attention is drawn to the fact that many pieces have been damaged by the Bolsheviks. Some have broken frames; some have “holes poked by bayonets” in them. This shows that totally harmless “objects of beauty” turned into something more during the ramp of the “reds”: they became status symbols, marking the owner not only as being wealthy, but also somewhat “different”.  By destroying the art collections, they were hoping to destroy the class differences and variations in intellectual education, trying to poke through the wall between the ones who understood and valued art. Well – that did not work out.
Neff’s 19th century art collection gave evidence of a certain group of people who aimed their resources toward acquiring non-productive objects. There was no arts-patron-like aspect in their activities, but there was an understanding that art is to be cherished and protected. Why? One of the important reasons is probably the same as today: Art offers a good opportunity to identify oneself.  If someone intensively devotes significant time on so-called intellectual values, then it is clear that their personal growth will be directed to that exact area.  Neff appreciated Raphael, whom he liked to copy, and this detail says a hundred times more about him than the fact of him liking beefsteak or having such-and-such number of peasants working at his estate.

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

EUGEN GUSTAV DÜCKER (1841–1916)
Rügeni maastik. 1869
Rügen Landscape.

PAUL SEPP (1874–1953)
Lilled. 1897
Flowers.

GREGOR ALEXANDER HEINRICH von BOCHMANN (1850–1930)
Kalurid rannal. 1890-1900ndad
Fishermen on the shore.

GREGOR ALEXANDER HEINRICH von BOCHMANN (1850–1930)
Kündja. 1900ndad
Ploughmen.

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