Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Watercolor on paper. 1961.
Signature: Nigul Espe 1961.

“One memory, one afternoon like a miracle
A big clear sky, a single splash on the cheek
The bright white squawk of seagulls overhead
We sat among the big gray stones”

Excerpt from Doris Kareva’s poem “On the Border”

Nigul Espe’s (1907-1970) creative motives were directly related to his own life, which primarily linked him to two cities, Pärnu and Tartu. Although born in Riga, when the boy was 8 years old, he and his family moved to the small town of Sindi, where he spent his childhood. Pärnu County is also home to the picturesque Kabli beach, where people who had lived inland for decades came to seek beach romanticism in the summer.

Espe had a talent for poeticizing everyday motifs, finding in them the unchanging essence of the magic of place. Even in this sensitive view of a boat harbor, he leaves an eternal, unchanging impression of a slightly hazy summer day. One where thoughts are free and people are happy.

Text: Katre Palm