Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on canvas. 1991.
Signature: Ilmar Kruusamäe 91. / Ilmar Kruusamäe (s. 1957) MAASIKAS 1991 õli. 6070cm

The photorealistic work of Ilmar Kruusamäe (b. 1957), one of the Tartu slide artists, is an important part of the holdings of various Estonian art museums and a number of important names in Estonian art have grown out of the legendary Tartu University Art Cabinet that he runs.

Among other things, one of his most famous pieces “Spring School Break” (EKM, 1983), was included in the powerful exhibition “We don’t do this” in Vilnius this year, introducing the art of the Baltic States. “Strawberry” represents Kruusamäe’s surrealist work, which he cultivated as a member of the group Para.

Sensual images have always interested Kruusamäe and here, he plays with a simple yet excitingly emotional image – a thorny heart-shaped strawberry between a woman’s lips. The painting fits well into the Estonian visual world of the early 1990s when the popularity of erotic art in various fields was just beginning to take off and combines Kruusamäe’s abilities between realistic painting techniques and surrealistic motifs.

Text: Katre Palm, Harry Liivrand