Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on cardboard. 1960s.

Priidu Aavik (1905-1991), who was a passionate sailor himself, knew both the sea itself as well as the daily life of the coastal people living by it well. Working on a fishing boat in the 1960s, he depicted the behind-the-scenes life of this job directly and openly, while leaving in it a poetry that is perfectly compatible with marine life.

He used every moment free from fishing to sketch and paint, explaining: “Art teaches you to think first of all, to see the essence of nature and then finally to capture it. When an artist has a basis in hand, he can do anything, he can’t do anything wrong, only in his own way.” Once, after painting outside for 3 hours in a row in cold and windy weather, he contracted pneumonia and wrote: “A person must shake himself free from comfort, defy difficulties” and when he recovered, he happily announced: “I got it right!”

In the 1960s, Aavik painted in both Norway and Estonia on Prangli. It is very likely that this painting was inspired by the latter location. The earthy tones of the painting convey the coolness of the beach and the sea, and the expressive style follows the form and the path of the winds exactly. The lantern in the center of the painting bisects the painting and directs the gaze towards the luminous expanse, where the light blue sky shines with a soft yellow between the gray and delicate purple cloud masses. It is this last one that sounds like a kind of summary of his philosophy of life, where his harsh fishing life is called the most beautiful creative days of his past life.

Text: Eneli Luiga