Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on canvas. 1933.
Signature: N. Kull 1933

Nikolai Kull (1894-1945) was a poetizer of Tallinn’s Old Town and an eternal chronicler of its beauty. Most of his paintings were made in the Upper Town where views of the Lower Town opened up and where several dignified streets were located. Kull was fascinated by the architecture there, which was both rustic and lazily elegant. Not to mention the stories behind all those windows!

This large-scale view of Toom-Rüütli Street on Toompea is very characteristic of Kull’s 1930s work in terms of color and brushwork, one could even say that it is representative. His use of materials is also traditional – namely, painting on rough sackcloth helped Kull to convey the unsmoothed nature of the Old Town’s architecture well and to convey different shades of one color, which sometimes rose and sometimes disappeared between its coarse threads. In addition, the festive backdrop of tree branches on the left and the light gray sky above the houses create a festive mood. Before us is one of Kull’s most brightly lit views of the Old Town.

Text: Mai Levin, Katre Palm