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HAUS GALLERY'S SPRING 2024 ART AUCTIONS WILL BE HELD ON 4, 5 AND 8 MAY 2024

To submit works for the auction, contact haus@haus.ee, 6419471, 5277334.

Autumn 2023 Art Auctions took place on 4, 5 and 8 November 2023, presenting a total of 209 works of which nearly 90% were sold with considerable price increases.

Haus Gallery has been organising art auctions for over 26 years. Each season, we present three collections of works which illustrate Estonian art from the turn of the century to the present day, representing important authors through their strongest creations. Haus Gallery's auctions focus on both paintings and graphic art.

Auction texts: Art historians Eero Epner and Heie Marie Treier

Auction curator: Piia Ausman

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Haus Gallery 29.10.2022 17:00

EARLIER ART CLASSICS

29th of October

The depiction of harbors was very common in Estonian art history, both before and after the Second World War. The port was often perceived as a certain border point between land and sea, but above all a point of contact between man and nature. In addition to ships standing in the harbor, fishermen coming from or going to the sea were therefore also portrayed. The frequent appearance of the harbor motif in Estonian art shows its significance: for the artist, the harbor could be both an expression of romantic longings and a harsh workplace, a landmark shaping the city skyline as well as a place that creates atmosphere and is a characteristic of Estonian identity.

Port of Tallinn
1. Nikolai Kull Port of Tallinn 1930s. Oil, canvas on cardboard 43 x 58 cm (framed) Starting price 3 600 Last bid 7 700 Final price 7 700
River Ship
2. Nigul Espe River Ship "Torm" 1938. Watercolor Lm 31.5 x 44 cm (framed) Starting price 1 500 Last bid 1 600 Final price 1 600
Fishing Harbor in Pärnu
3. Richard Uutmaa Fishing Harbor in Pärnu 1950. Oil, canvas 61 x 96.5 cm (framed) Starting price 7 900 Last bid 13 000 Final price 13 000
Port of Tallinn
4. Priidu Aavik Port of Tallinn 1959. Oil, canvas 54.5 x 73.3 cm (framed) Starting price 5 900 Last bid - Final price -
Harbour in the Rain
5. Nigul Espe Harbour in the Rain 1962. Watercolor Vm 49.3 x 32.2 cm (framed) Starting price 1 600 Last bid 2 900 Final price 2 900
Port
6. Nikolai Kormašov Port 1963. Oil, canvas 60 x 80 cm (framed) Starting price 4 900 Last bid 5 700 Final price 5 700

CITY

Painting flowers does not always mean setting them in still lifes, but flowers have attracted the attention of artists both in vases and in free nature, both in bouquets and in more random connections. Flowers are admired either for their external form and richness of color, or they carry deeper symbolic meanings. Be that as it may, flower painting has always had its place in Estonian art history, and there are few authors in older art history who did not paint flowers.

Boboli Gardens in Florence
7. Karl Alexander von Winkler Boboli Gardens in Florence 1906. Watercolor Lm 33.8 x 44.5 cm (framed) Starting price 2 400 Last bid 2 400 Final price 2 400
A Slum Before Thunderstorm
8. Andrus Johani A Slum Before Thunderstorm 1935. Charcoal, pastel, paper 31.2 x 40.8 cm (framed) Starting price 2 200 Last bid 3 600 Final price 3 600
Stone Bridge in Tartu
9. Eduard Kutsar Stone Bridge in Tartu 1920-1930s. Oil, canvas 42 x 53 cm (framed) Starting price 4 200 Last bid 7 400 Final price 7 400
Ruins Of St Mary's Church In Tartu
10. Nigul Espe Ruins Of St Mary's Church In Tartu 1943. Oil, plywood 28 x 40.8 cm (framed) Starting price 1 800 Last bid 3 400 Final price 3 400
View of Tallinn
11. Aleksander Pilar View of Tallinn 1951. Watercolor Vm 30.3 x 40.2 cm (framed) Starting price 1 600 Last bid 2 300 Final price 2 300
Backyard In Old Town
12. Valerian Loik Backyard In Old Town 1950s. Oil, canvas 40 x 32.2 cm (framed) Starting price 2 600 Last bid 6 800 Final price 6 800
Market
13. Henn Roode Market 1960. Oil, cardboard 37.6 x 48.5 cm (framed) Starting price 4 100 Last bid 4 100 Final price 4 100
In Kadriorg Park
14. Varmo Pirk In Kadriorg Park 1965. Oil, cardboard 70 x 50 cm (framed) Starting price 3 400 Last bid 3 400 Final price 3 400
View of Võru
15. Enn Volmere View of Võru 1968. Oil, tempera, canvas 79 x 93 cm (framed) Starting price 3 100 Last bid 6 300 Final price 6 300
Karlova Motive
16. Jüri Marran Karlova Motive 1978. Oil, cardboard 60.5 x 49.5 cm (framed) Starting price 1 400 Last bid 1 400 Final price 1 400

HEROS OF OUR LIFE

In art history, as a rule, people who are in some way important and who guide the development of society are portrayed. Especially in commissioned art, kings, burghers and generals set the tone. But besides that, artists have always been interested in much simpler natures, which will always remain anonymous in history, but are still part of the social processes. Artists like to observe the immediate nature of such people and the faces that tell about life experience. Observing ordinary people in their everyday environment has undoubtedly fascinated authors in different times and places.

Fishermen
17. Eerik Haamer Fishermen 1948. Oil, canvas 65.5 x 92.5 cm (framed) Starting price 12 500 Last bid - Final price -
In an Exhibition
18. Erich Pehap In an Exhibition 1955. Oil, masonite 61 x 76.5 cm (framed) Starting price 3 900 Last bid 13 200 Final price 13 200
Builders
19. Lepo Mikko Builders 1963. Oil, tempera, canvas 122 x 80 cm (framed) Starting price 13 000 Last bid 25 500 Final price 25 500
Fishermen
20. Nikolai Kormašov Fishermen 1963. Oil, cardboard 74 x 93 cm (framed) Starting price 7 400 Last bid 8 300 Final price 8 300
Swamp Drainers
21. Henn Roode Swamp Drainers 1963-1966. Oil, cardboard 45.7 x 68 cm (framed) Starting price 3 900 Last bid 6 300 Final price 6 300
Merry Company
22. Elmar Kits Merry Company 1967. Tempera, cardboard 45 x 42 cm (framed) Starting price 4 500 Last bid 8 100 Final price 8 100

VANGUARD

This chapter brings together one very unexpected and another very expected painting. Endel Kõks's avant-garde experiments are well known, and while living abroad he was able to delve into their research without hindrance. Erich Pehap, on the other hand, has not performed at the avant-garde front until now. We see a work completed as a schoolboy, and Pehap never returned to this style. But this is probably one of the characteristics of the avant-garde: it is always surprising.

 

Composition
23. Erich Pehap Composition 1931. Watercolor Km 25 x 25 cm (framed) Starting price 1 400 Last bid 1 400 Final price 1 400
In the Evening
24. Endel Kõks In the Evening 1958. Gouache, paper 61.4 x 46.4 cm (framed) Starting price 3 100 Last bid 3 100 Final price 3 100

KONRAD MÄGI

In recent years, Konrad Mägi has also been discovered by the international art community. There have been exhibitions in very prestigious museums in Rome, Turin, Espoo, Copenhagen, and at the end of November a large exhibition will be opened in Lillehammer. The international attention paid to Konrad Mägi's work proves that his extraordinary talent did not only shape the history of art in Estonia, but is an important part of the 20th century narrative of painting throughout Europe. According to foreign researchers, Mägi is mainly highlighted by two characteristics. First, his special use of color, where the color seems to glow internally and carries strong emotional impulses. Secondly, Mägi's treatment of nature, the intensity and vision of which is rarely seen.

The mapping of Mägi's works has made it possible to determine the location of almost 300 paintings. However, surprises still pop up occasionally. One of which the painting in this auction, which was in the collection of Estonians living in Australia for almost 80 years, and is coming back to Estonia for the first time.

 

Norwegian Landscape
25. Konrad Mägi Norwegian Landscape 1908-1910. Oil, paper 25.4 x 33.2 cm (framed) Starting price 64 000 Last bid 103 000 Final price 103 000

BACK TO THE HOMELAND

After the Second World War, many artists began to paint nature. It was one of the ways for them to distance themselves from politics, but also a way to hold on to the traditions of painting in Estonia, where landscape painting played an important role. Undoubtedly, for many authors, nature was still just a familiar place where they had spent their childhood and youth and whose dynamics they perceived with undisguised intensity. The joy of nature was not only known as a spectacle, but also as a natural environment where being in it was as natural as slipping your hand into your pocket.

The Yard of Lauri's Farm
26. August Jansen The Yard of Lauri's Farm 1945-1954. Oli, masonite 84 x 102 cm (framed) Starting price Last bid 16 700 Final price 16 700
Cow Milking in the Pasture
27. Oskar Raunam Cow Milking in the Pasture 1948. Oil, canvas 46.5 x 61.6 cm (framed) Starting price 3 600 Last bid 5 600 Final price 5 600
Winter Landscape with Pine Trees
28. Richard Uutmaa Winter Landscape with Pine Trees 1956. Oil, cardboard 50 x 70 cm (framed) Starting price 5 900 Last bid 15 600 Final price 15 600
View of Linnaveski, Karksi
29. Evald Okas View of Linnaveski, Karksi 1956. Oil, canvas 18.3 x 27 cm (framed) Starting price 1 500 Last bid 4 600 Final price 4 600
Haymaking in Karepa
30. Richard Sagrits Haymaking in Karepa 1958. Watercolour 31.2 x 49.5 cm (framed) Starting price 2 800 Last bid 2 800 Final price 2 800
Landscape
31. Johannes Saal Landscape 1958. Oil, paper Lm 31 x 42 cm (framed) Starting price 2 300 Last bid 4 000 Final price 4 000
Landscape with Windmill
32. Elmar Kits Landscape with Windmill 1959. Oil, canvas 56 x 73.5 cm (framed) Starting price 8 000 Last bid 18 100 Final price 18 100
Rannamõisa Coast
33. Karl Burman juunior Rannamõisa Coast 1964. Watercolour Lm 58.5 x 78.5 cm (framed) Starting price 2 100 Last bid 7 400 Final price 7 400

WOMEN

The tradition of depicting women in older Estonian paintings is controversial, as there are rather few images of emancipated women and women are often seen as an anonymous symbol or an object of male fantasies. The men in the paintings are usually working, thinking or posing, but the women just are. Sometimes it seems as if they came across the paintings semi-accidentally, in passing, their attitude lacks the activity that the artists wanted and they are rather observed than observers.

Two Women
34. Johannes Greenberg Two Women 1940-1944. Oil, canvas 74.5 x 63.4 cm (framed) Starting price 17 000 Last bid 26 000 Final price 26 000
Nude
35. Ado Vabbe Nude 1940s. Oil, cardboard 52.5 x 46 cm (framed) Starting price 15 000 Last bid 15 000 Final price 15 000
Woman With Child and Birds
36. Eduard Ole Woman With Child and Birds 1952. Watercolour, gouache 46.5 x 38 cm (framed) Starting price 3 400 Last bid 3 400 Final price 3 400
Girl with a Scarf
37. Evald Okas Girl with a Scarf 1967. Oil, cardboard 32.7 x 47.8 cm (framed) Starting price 1 800 Last bid 5 600 Final price 5 600

EYES

In older Estonian art, it is common that in figural compositions, that is, in paintings depicting several people, the faces are rendered sketchily, with just a few strokes. However, the eyes are always under special attention. Even if the eyes are not painted in detail and realistically, mood and psychology are concentrated in them.

Composition
38. Johannes Greenberg Composition 1940-1944. Oil, canvas 110.5 x 135.5 cm (framed) Starting price 28 000 Last bid 28 000 Final price 28 000
Self-Portrait
39. Johannes Võerahansu Self-Portrait 1944. Oli, plywood 26.2 x 21.8 cm (framed) Starting price Last bid 3 500 Final price 3 500

KITCHEN

Surprisingly, this auction has included several paintings where the central scene is the kitchen. There are rooms that are depicted more often than others, but the kitchen is undoubtedly fascinating due to its various functions. In addition to practical purposes such as cooking, the kitchen has always been a social meeting place, as well as a place where the traditions and customs of the past are stored.

In the Kitchen
40. Nikolai Kummits In the Kitchen 1930s. Oil, canvas 61 x 76 cm (framed) Starting price 9 900 Last bid - Final price -
Farmhouse Kitchen
41. Valerian Loik Farmhouse Kitchen 1960-1970s. Oil, canvas 69 x 74 cm (framed) Starting price 2 900 Last bid - Final price -
Cooking In a Farm Kitchen
42. Boris Ninemäe Cooking In a Farm Kitchen 1970s. Oil, canvas 50 x 61 cm (framed) Starting price 1 600 Last bid - Final price -

HOLIDAY

The frequency of depicting a working and active person is logical, since there is always drama and dramaturgy, tension and effort in activity. Painting a relaxing person, on the other hand, requires a completely different kind of attention, because you have to observe not muscle tension and focus, but instead relaxation and peace. Instead of doing, now the object of interest in the painting is doing nothing.

In the Tavern
43. Oskar Georg Adolf Hoffmann In the Tavern 1880s. Oil, plywood 14 x 18 cm (framed) Starting price 4 100 Last bid 4 500 Final price 4 500
Mealtime
44. Endel Kõks Mealtime 1954. Oil, canvas 51 x 32 cm (framed) Starting price 4 600 Last bid 7 700 Final price 7 700
On the Lake
45. Emma Siirak On the Lake 1960s. Pastel, paper Lm 40.8 x 47.5 cm (framed) Starting price 1 400 Last bid 3 400 Final price 3 400
Reflection of the Lake
46. Valdur Ohakas Reflection of the Lake 1973. Oil, canvas 78.5 x 100 cm (framed) Starting price 4 900 Last bid 9 900 Final price 9 900

FLOWERS

Painting flowers does not always mean setting them in still lifes, but flowers have attracted the attention of artists both in vases and in free nature, both in bouquets and in more random connections. Flowers are admired either for their external form and richness of color, or they carry deeper symbolic meanings. Be that as it may, flower painting has always had its place in Estonian art history, and there are few authors in older art history who did not paint flowers.

Artist's Flowers
47. Adamson-Eric Artist's Flowers 1930s. Oil, canvas 49 x 39 cm (framed) Starting price 13 000 Last bid 38 500 Final price 38 500
Flowers
48. Johannes Võerahansu Flowers 1946-1954. Oil, plywood 84 x 62.7 cm (framed) Starting price 6 800 Last bid 14 100 Final price 14 100
Flowers
49. Elmar Kits Flowers 1967. Tempera, cardboard 42 x 46 cm (framed) Starting price 4 400 Last bid 5 600 Final price 5 600
Field Flowers
50. Viktor Leškin Field Flowers 1984. Oil, canvas 50.5 x 70.5 cm (framed) Starting price Last bid 2 500 Final price 2 500

LIGHT

Next to color, light has always been an important object of representation for painters. Rather, it is not an object, because light is the most difficult thing to put your finger on. We can recognize colors and brushstrokes on the surface of a painting, we can describe composition and motifs, but analyzing light is much more difficult. Artists often do not show the source of light, it seeps into colors and objects, is vague and yet total. Although elusive, light often defines the entire atmosphere of a painting.

Riverside View With Boats
51. August Jansen Riverside View With Boats 1929. Oil, canvas on cardboard 43 x 31.5 cm (framed) Starting price 2 600 Last bid 18 200 Final price 18 200
Landscape With Birch Trees
52. Paul Burman Landscape With Birch Trees 1920-1930s. Watercolour Lm 49.7 x 70.8 cm (framed) Starting price 4 300 Last bid 4 500 Final price 4 500
(sold)Early Spring
53. Andrei Jegorov Early Spring 1930s. Tempera, paper Vm 33 x 48.4 cm (framed) Starting price Last bid - Final price -
Boulevard
54. Olga Terri Boulevard 1950s. Oil, cardboard Lm 34.4 x 49.4 cm (framed) Starting price Last bid 2 900 Final price 2 900
Coast of Saaremaa
55. Richard Uutmaa Coast of Saaremaa 1960. Oil, canvas 65 x 81 cm (framed) Starting price 7 800 Last bid 14 000 Final price 14 000
Autumn Charms
56. Joann Voldemar Saarniit Autumn Charms 1969. Oil, masonite 44.3 x 101.4 cm (framed) Starting price 2 400 Last bid 4 800 Final price 4 800
Stones on the Viimsi Coast
57. Olav Maran Stones on the Viimsi Coast 1982. Gouache, tempera 61 x 69 cm (framed) Starting price 4 200 Last bid 4 200 Final price 4 200
Spring
58. Evald Okas Spring 1988. Oil, cardboard 50 x 71 cm (framed) Starting price 3 100 Last bid 9 500 Final price 9 500