Eesti kunsti oksjonid
Lydia Mei “Sügisene natüürmort autoportreega”
Kevadoksjon 2025
Mixed media on paper.
Signature: Lydia Mei
| Measurements | ava 39 x 39 cm |
|---|---|
| Starting price | 1 800 € |
| Number of bids | 20 |
| Hammer price | 4 100 € |
Lydia Mei (1896-1965), who had already played a prominent role in Estonian art life since the second half of the 1920s, cultivated a primarily modernist style at the time and in the 1930s, she moved smoothly on the wave of the next new modern art movement – art deco. Flowers and exotic fruits are an important motif throughout her portfolio but she focused especially on them in the post-war period.
In the rich composition, all components are given equal weight, such as the lush bouquet in the jug, the apples in the basket, the fruits arranged in a jumble on the table, and the two bunches of grapes in the foreground. The entire composition symbolizes the autumn harvest of the garden with imported grapes, and is painted with impressionist realism in a slightly salon (meaning, art deco) manner, demonstrating Mei’s artistic handwriting.
However, one detail makes the piece especially interesting – the artist’s self-portrait on the vase. Just as Jan van Eyck captured his young couple in the mirror behind him in his famous painting “The Arnolfini Engagement”, Lydia Mei does the same with the reflection of the glass.
Text: Harry Liivrand