Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on canvas. 2006
Signature: “ÄRA OLE TOBE MOLLY, PANE KLEIT SELGA JA JUMALA PÄRAST, KORISTA SEE TIIGER SIIT JALUST ÄRA”

Merike Estna (b. 1980), who received her art education in Tallinn and London, has become one of the most sought-after neo-pop painters today. The artist’s work has undergone several turning points over time and this is one of her largest surviving works from the creative period of the early 2000s, hen the artist produced photorealistic and pop paintings.

Drawing on a literary sentence, Estna constructs a painting full of hints and riddles. In front of an ominous sky reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s horror film “Birds”, the artist places birds of the same color on branches in a black haze but the center of the picture is still an intriguing figural composition.

A white tiger baring its teeth appears between a self-revealing sex bomb and a gentleman in a chic evening suit. Is this James Bond and his famous Dr. Molly Warmflash from the 1999 film “The World is Not Enough”? Or a bravura manifestation of female power? In any case, the painting contains a fascinating social intrigue to unravel, for which the viewer must find the key.

Text: Harry Liivrand, Katre Palm