Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on cardboard. 1940s.
Signature: Nigul Espe

Nigul Espe’s (1907-1970) creative motives were directly related to his own life, which tied him primarily to two cities, Pärnu and Tartu. Born in Riga, he moved with his family to the small town of Sindi when he was 8 years old, where he spent his childhood. Espe, who later started studying at Pallas in Tartu, settled there after finishing school. This is also where, among other things, he started running one of the cultural people’s favorite cafes called Ko-Ko-Ko.

“A view of snowy Tartu” is a winter landscape in cheerful colors. The brown treetops and fence made of garden flags, the bluish-black chimney and the blue roof tiles are all subjected to the vividly painted pinkish-white general color scheme. Classical impressionism meets a local motif here, Pallasian slum poetry meets the Estonian subconscious. The Spirit of Tartu is visualized before us!

Text: Harry Liivrand, Katre Palm