Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on canvas. 1928.
Signature: A. Pulst 1928 / 1928 A. Pulst 1889 õli, lõuend 27 x 40

August Pulst (1889-1977), who studied at the Riga City Art School with Vilhelms Purvitis, Janis Tilbergs, Bernhard Borchert and others in 1911-15, began exhibiting in exhibitions in 1914 and did so consistently until his death. In the second half of the 1920s, Pulst and his family moved to Nõmme, and his wife has described the time there as the brightest in their lives. They lived a life close to nature where water was obtained from a well with a crank and chickens were kept in the garden.

Contentment and harmony are also reflected in the painting “Landscape with bales of rye” completed during that period. A harvested field with rye bales is a recurring motif in his work, and we find them especially abundantly in this piece. The painting, which is sometimes precise in style, indicates the influence of the Latvian school of painting in its handling of light and brushwork. The rough base canvas, however, helps Pulst convey the rural nature of the scene.

The painting was very likely exhibited at the EKKKÜ spring exhibition in the Tallinn Stock Exchange in 1929.

Text: Mai Levin, Katre Palm