Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Woodcut on paper. 1939.
Signature: P. Liivak Seenelised puugravüür

One of the most prominent graphic artists of the 1920s and 1930s, Paul Liivak (1900-1942), began his art studies at the Tallinn School of Art and Industry and continued them at Pallas, graduating in 1922. Already during his school days, Liivak came up with the linocut portfolio “Port City” and continued with them throughout the next decade.

The popularity of woodcut engraving, which had reached Estonia, and Hando Mugasto and Arkadio Laigo, who had emerged as xylographers, gave Liivak the impetus and inspiration to create more and more using this technique. Liivak’s work and studies took him to Tallinn, Pärnu, and Tartu, but the most important source of natural experiences was the picturesque landscape of South Estonia, including Lake Pühajärv. His “Mushroom pickers” are placed on the shore of this lake, but do you notice how harmoniously Liivak blends them into nature? After all, man has come to ask for nature’s gift, not the other way around.

The Art Nouveau stylization characteristic of Liivak’s work at the time gives the work an elegant edge and amplifies the magnificent beauty of the natural experience. One can only reflect with regret on where the artist’s flight of imagination might have taken him if the war had not taken him from us at the age of only 42.

Text: Katre Palm