Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Letterpress on paper. 1978.
Signature: MEES-MASIN III KÕRGTRÜKK 15/40 / Lapin 1978

The series “Machines” by Leonhard Lapin (1947-2022), the leader of the Estonian avant-garde, began in 1972 and has become an unshakable staple of Estonian modern art. Combining Suprematism and Constructivism with erotic imagery, Lapin created the scandalous series “Woman-Machine” and “Man-Machine” but not all of his prints contain explicit sexual symbolism.

In “Man-Machine III”, masculinity is expressed by the shape of a black or white circle borrowed from Malevich, which Lapin places in four equally sized squares. The resulting composition is both structurally creative and destructive, speaking about the diversity of male roles.

Text: Harry Liivrand, Katre Palm