Olga Terri
(1916–2011)
Suburban View. 1950s
Oil, cardboard. Lm 41.5 x 60 cm (framed)
price 3 000
Such a perspective of the suburban view was not uncommon in Estonian art. Trees in the foreground, followed by the garden and the canopies overhanging the garden was a common motif, with the work of Villem Ormisson being an example. Unlike Ormisson, Terri’s focus is not on light and colour, but rather on refining the mood of the scene. We can see how the first third of the picture is dominated by shades of green, creating an image of a fertile season. The scraggly trees seem to spoil this image, but rather suggest to the viewer that it is spring and nature is about to come to life. The long edge-to-edge fence is a kind of boundary between the landscape and the houses, as a new zone now begins. While the landscape is rendered with undulating brush strokes, the zone of houses is rhythmically shaped in a different way, which also allows for a variation in the choice of colours. We see flashes of white, red, yellow, and brown. The upper half of the painting is given over to the sky, which, in its neutrality, emphasises once again the solemnity and romantic simplicity of the view.