Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Linocut on paper. 1967.
Signature: Pähklipuust diivan. Linoollõige, 23/25 V / HArrak 1967

With this charming print, Henno Arrak (1930-2017) enters into a dialogue with the great master of art history, the Italian Renaissance artist Giorgione, whose “Sleeping Venus” (1510) has inspired Titian, Manet and many other artists of subsequent generations – including Arrak. We see similarities here in the composition of the design, in the pose of the figure in the foreground, as well as in the soft folds of drapery and the background that discreetly follows the curves of the body. Arrak has named the work after the latter.

But when we examine this precious walnut sofa more closely, we notice delicate patterns that draw attention to the slender figure of the beautiful woman in the foreground, who has momentarily dozed off – one hand gently under her cheek, the other resting loosely on her hip.

Arrak’s Venus does not provoke or offer herself. She does not compete or submit. She does not hide her body, nor does she feel ashamed. She simply is. There is a beauty here in the soul, which the viewer can experience as something sublime, not as an object of desire. The woman on the precious wood sofa is not there for the viewer, she is there as herself, for herself. Enjoying contentment and a brief moment of slumber. Before us is the pure beauty of being.

Text: Regina Mets