Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on cardboard. 1971.
Signature: EW 71

Edgar Valter’s apocalyptic panorama of Tallinn is one of the few images of the capital by the surrealist master. When Valter does depict a city, it is usually a fairy-tale fantasy city with neither a name nor a location. In this one too, he has deliberately tried to mix up the maps, painting the buildings of the Old Town in a deliberately generalized manner, with a wide brush, yet we clearly recognize the silhouette of, with the Oleviste Tower rising towards the sky in the center, and Tall Hermann on the right.

In Valter’s vision, Tallinn is glowing golden, with three stars shining above it. Here, a ghostly beam of light passes through the entire sky, the city, and the Gulf of Finland stretching out before us, seemingly coming from far away space. Is this another one of Valter’s dreams before us, the explanation for which must be sought within the viewer? Who knows…

Text: Harry Liivrand, Katre Palm