Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Mezzotint on paper. 1942.
Signature: Monika – mezzotinto 1942 / Eduard Wiiralt

Eduard Wiiralt (1898-1954) created his masterpiece in the mezzotint technique of the little Tallinn girl Monika Pootsik based on numerous drawings of her in the second half of 1942. In the first version, the girl has a tie on her head, in the second, she has a veil. The girl’s portrait can also be found on a brooch, which is why the print tells the story of the girl’s transformation from a child to a young woman.

“Monika” was praised already in the year of its completion, which is also mentioned in the 2013 “History of Estonian Art”, volume 6, part 1: “At the 1942 autumn exhibition of the Tallinn Art Hall, Eduard Wiiralt’s portrait generalizations on Estonia stood out as significant works: two works titled “Estonian Girl” (one in colored aquatint, the other in soft varnish) and the mezzotint “Monika” (at the exhibition it was also called “The Girl with Flowers”). The latter, a compositionally unique work with a triple portrait repetition, which is technically the pinnacle of Wiiralt’s mezzotint approach, later began to be appreciated more and more, and “Monika” was also successful in post-war France.

Text: Mai Levin, Katre Palm