Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Etching on paper. 1977.
Signature: Madonna lapsega; ofort / M. Mutsu 77

The message conveyed in the prints of Marju Mutsu (1941-1980) with sensitive etching lines mostly concerns relationships between people. In the designs dealing with parents and children or more generally, with the family, we see figures with their backs to each other, compared to traditional hugging images (Renaissance Madonna images).

On the one hand, it speaks of the freedom given to a child to choose their own path (although the carpet they sit on is initially the same, to emphasize the unity of the family). On the other hand, it tells of the parent’s challenge not to burden their child with their everyday worries, to offer them a care-free, happy childhood. Mutsu’s etching technique was experimental and seeking possibilities for the time, the figures are surrounded by open space, a lot of air, in which unspoken thoughts are written.

Text: Vappu Thurlow, Katre Palm