Eesti kunsti oksjonid
Leonhard Lapin “Must teravik”
Sügisoksjon 2025
Gravure print on paper. 1982.
Signature: Must teravik / sügavtrükk 8/20 / Leonhard Lapin 1982
| Measurements | Plm 41,5 x 39 cm |
|---|---|
| Starting price | 1 900 € |
| Number of bids | 5 |
| Hammer price | 2 300 € |
The 1980s work of Leonhard Lapin (1947-2022), a great figure of Estonian constructivist and geometric art, includes several graphic prints that engage in a creative dialogue with the classics of modernism, primarily the avant-garde of the 1920s.
As the work “Black spike” shows, Lapin moved towards a freer and more conceptual form in the 1980s, the aim no longer being to capture the final result of an idea but the path to it — the process, the movement. All colors except black recede from his graphics, and it is the contrast of black and white surfaces and the visible axis of construction that determine the basic characteristics of the artist’s spatial concept.
The shape of a triangle is a recurring motif in Lapin’s work, depicting bright light falling from dark infinity to people, which diffuses more gently at one end or vice versa. The shapes, which change the intensity of light at different ends, are like yin and yang balancing each other out. Clarity and simplicity, about which Lapin often philosophized with his students and fellow travelers.
Text: Katre Palm, Harry Liivrand