The summer beaches and city motifs of Croatia, Portugal and Italy create a sunny holiday feeling, which acts like a shot of vitamins during this dark and gloomy time of year. The sea here is light blue and bright, just like in a tourism catalogue, framed by red stone roofs, grand basilicas and lush cypress trees. In contrast, the author has painted the sea as gloomy and dangerous, for example, the scene with Andromeda, the princess sacrificed to the mythological sea monster. The ‘ruler of men’, who is chained to a cliff, is depicted here submitting to the powerful crest of a wave, the spatial persuasiveness and green azureness of which reminds one of the romantic handwriting of Ivan Aivazovski, considered to be one of the greatest painters of seascapes.

In a good way the beach is greyer and more familiar, more realistic and peaceful along the Baltic Sea, be it Stroomi or Narva-Jõesuu. Also originating from the seashore are frames of the Old Town and Katleri, with a Lutheran church serving as the background of one and an Orthodox church as the background of another. As if by accident the seashore at the exhibition brings together not only land and sea but also different cultural spaces. And all of this in the author's own unique academic style, where it exudes the lasting traditions of painting and the tasteful resolution of classical motifs.

Aleksei Shatunov (1981) studied icon painting and restoration at the Estonian Academy of Arts, followed by graphics (BA) and art pedagogy (MA), and complemented himself in the field of painting at the Saint Petersburg State Repin Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Since 2007, he has taught drawing and painting at various art education institutions in Estonia, Sweden, Portugal and Canada. He has represented Estonia at international exhibitions and biennales; his works have been displayed in museums in Russia, Estonia and China, at UNESCO funds, and in the private collections of European countries.

The exhibition By the Sea will remain open at Haus Gallery until 6 January 2018.