Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Etching on paper. 1928.
Signature: Ed. Wiiralt 2 r. Maison Dieu JUIN 1928 / Clochards – eau-forte 1928 / E. Wiiralt

“Company”, completed during the most turbulent and brilliant creative period of Eduard Wiiralt’s life (1898-1954) is a print that, in terms of idea and execution, represented an introduction to “Inferno”, which has become one of his most iconic works. Returning to the roots of the work, rethinking it was quite natural for Wiiralt and speaks of his thorough creative nature. Thus, Wiiralt, who was residing in Paris at the time, has given this work various French names: “Les clochards”, “Delirium tremens”, but in the end stuck with “Company”.

The pieces well-characterizes his period of “storm and urge”, when Wiiralt’s work included many plays around sensual vices. The characters gathered under the shadow of the plank form a sarcastic and visionary cross-section of society whose collective intoxication has even gripped the cat hanging from the plank.

This print has been in a folder since its completion and has never been presented before, which is why it is in such excellent condition. The work is also part of the collection of the Art Museum of Estonia and is reproduced in the book “Eduard Wiiralt” by Mai Levin, page 100 (Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn 2015).

Text: Katre Palm