Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Linocut on paper. 1972.
Signature: “Eluring” linool / autoritõmmis Herald Eelma 1972

Herald Eelma (b. 1934) has a thorough working style; he is a virtuoso sketcher who, starting in the mid-1970s, exhibited complex drawings at exhibitions that combined nature motifs and people into unique compositions. At that time, he was looking for a more nuanced and detailed way of expression besides linocut. He has named 1970 as an important year in his work, when his exhibition at the Estonian Art Museum took place (together with Peeter Ulas). This is where Eelma’s famous linocut “Homeland” was completed, and the legendary “Girls” was born a year earlier.

A print of his 1970 linocut entitled “Eluring” (“Circle of Life”) is also available in the Tartu Art Museum where it is entitled “Kodumaa” (“Homeland”) (TKM TR 8802 GR 2437). The print is also reproduced in Jüri Hain’s book about Herald Eelma, published in 1980, also under the title “Homeland” where he writes about a series consisting of two parts (this is the first of them). In the piece, a male and female figure stand facing each other, from whose profiles the silhouette of a mighty tree emerges, inside which is a view of the South Estonian landscape.

In this, the first work in the series, Hain also sees a tree trunk in its central dark surface. Around the tree stand women and children of different ages with expressive faces, while at its heart is a reference to World War II, in the form of a fallen soldier in the spirit of the patriotic theme of the time. The philosophical generalization and manly concise approach to form give the work its conviction.

Text: Vappu Thurlow