Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Etching on paper. 1968.
Signature: Vähk (ofort) 8/15 / VVInn – 68

The works of Vello Vinn (b. 1939), a living master of Estonian surrealism and fantastic realism, from the 1960s and 1970s are mostly found only in museums and the best private collections. It was during this period that his technically most finely crafted and most valued works were created. Their limited number is also due to the very small circulation of the works. Thus, only 15 prints of this graphic sheet were made, for example.

Structurally, “Lobster” is reminiscent of the compositions built on the reflection effect of the image that brought Vinn fame but it is not. From the very beginning, Vinn’s visual calling card becomes technical finesse and a baroque array of shapes growing out of each other, which provokes so-called optical vertigo.

Like Eduard Wiiralt in his “Inferno” or “Cabaret”, Vinn presents the motif as a series of uninterrupted associations. The creature dominating the picture is like an ironic paraphrase of the monumental art of the time, on a grand scale, a la the Jääretk obelisk. At the same time, Vinn gives his lobster a balancing significance through the central human figure sitting in a yoga pose, effectively linking the composition into a unified whole.

Text: Harry Liivrand