Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on cardboard. 1965.

Valdur Ohakas’ (1928-1998) theatrical works are often inspired by Picasso’s paintings on the same subject. For example, his 1967 painting “Harlequin” was most likely inspired by the acrobats and other circus figures seen in the Spaniard’s pieces. Picasso, in turn, was influenced by Paul Gauguin and the synthetic style, also using flat, patterned shapes.

“Actor” depicts a puppeteer holding a hampelmann. The intrigue of the work, however, begins with the different way in which both characters are depicted – the young man is rendered in a background of brown and grey; the red-yellow Harlequin puppet in his hand is bright and prominent ( the puppet’s costume is a paraphrase of the diamond-patterned uniform of the Pierrot puppet). Thus, Ohakas poses the question of who is leading whom? Who is the actor and who is the puppet? Who is in the limelight and who is actually pulling the strings in the background?

We can also see the Harlequin as an artist’s persona, or the face through which a person appears to convey a certain impression or role. Do we see in the puppet, or in Ohakas himself, who before being sent to the prison camp had resolutely shouted: “Remember that governments come and go, but art remains!”

The painting is also shown in the 1986 ERR program “Ateljeekontsert”: https://arhiiv.err.ee/video/vaata/ateljeekontsert-valdur-ohakas (from 1:25).

Text: Harry Liivrand, Vappu Thurlow