Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on canvas. 1961-64.
Signature: Haamer

In 2014, the exhibition “The Enchantment of the North. Estonian Artists in the Nordic Countries” at the Adamson-Eric Museum featured, among others, Eerik Haamer’s (1908-1994) abstract composition “Seabed” (1964, EKM) whose hypnotically deep tones brought the viewer a powerful natural experience. The series of seabeds, introduced in the early 1960s, carried impressions of the diverse flora and fauna of the sea, and it was from this that a semi-abstract way of imagining began, which the artist later carried over to other natural motifs – flowers, moss, the seashore, apple trees, etc.

“What you perceive when looking at Haamer’s pictures is the experience of recognizing nature, as if you were to open your eyes while swimming underwater or stick your head into a thicket and a fascinating world opens up, almost unreal due to the close-up view,” writes Reeli Kõiv in the monograph accompanying the exhibition “Eerik Haamer. On Both Sides of the Sea” (p. 203, TKM, EKM, 2008).

The same emotion is offered by the captivating “Seabed” where the artist reaches an almost abstract conditionality in creating the form of the motif he sees. One of the best examples of a colorful colorist offers endless space for discovery – we find warm reddish-brown, almost transparent bright white and deep sea green in the work.

Here, Haamer does not proceed from the exact transmission of a specific motif but rather, conveys the sight created by the movement of water. Through the tones that melt into each other, we perceive quietly floating algae, caressing the smooth polished stones and the soft sandy surface. Almost imperceptibly, in addition to the plants, fish are also present, indicated by lively rising air bubbles.

Text: Katre Palm, Harry Liivrand