Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on cardboard. 1999.
Signature: L. Saarts ’99 / Naine suure kassiga 1999 õli 37×44

Lembit Saarts (1924-2016), who became an artist with a musically brilliant sense of color under the tutelage of Johannes Võerahansu and Elmar Kits, can be seen hinting at the influence of his teachers in his powdery pastel paintings. The barely perceptible haze covering his works gives them a romantically bright and warm feel.

The cat, which symbolizes both a purring house cat and a sly troublemaker, has a particularly intriguing effect against the backdrop of a sensual nude. Artist Mauri Gross describes it as follows: “The cat is elevated to an elevated position by its poetic symbolist mood and size. In contrast, the female nude has the effect of a muse resting on her laurels.” A moody work by one of Tartu’s most important painters.

Text: Katre Palm, Mauri Gross