Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Drypoint on paper. 1943.
Signature: WIIRALT juuni 43 / 29 VI 1943 / Kuivnõel 1943 / Eduard Wiiralt

Eduard Wiiralt’s (1898-1954) half-nude of the graceful Vanemuine and Estonia Theater dancer and actress Astrid Arak is one of the artist’s most delicate and elegant pieces created in Estonia. Astrid, with her Nordic modest nature, set two conditions for the print. First, it could not be a full nude and second, the young model wanted to capture a striped skirt as a national motif. The stripes also added slimness to the model and balanced the horizontal lines of the background compositionally.

As in the previously completed “Seated Lady” and “Estonian Maiden”, here too Wiiralt is particularly fascinated by the model’s hands whose position, similar to her gaze directed downwards, well-conveys Astrid’s shy character and visually blends into the striped pattern of the skirt. The work is reproduced in the book “Eduard Wiiralt 1898-1954”, compiled by Mai Levin, on page 263.

Text: Katre Palm