Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Etching on paper. 1947.
Signature: “Kvartett” etsing 1947 / Richard Kaljo

No prints of Richard Kaljo’s (1914-1978) 1947 design “Quartet” are known to have survived in Estonian museums. There is an ink drawing of the same piece from 1965 and a later version with a different composition of four musicians (also from 1965) but no graphic sheets. That is why it is a special pleasure to present this rare print to the art public now.

Art historian Harry Liivrand writes: “One of the most beautiful graphic prints depicting music and, in a figurative sense, music in Estonian art. The musicians’ radiant faces and the specific body language based on the instrument they each play leave no doubt about Kaljo’s excellent observational skills. The fashion also reflects the era – this is how café ensembles dressed, which were common in larger locales at the time. A certain seriousness in the musicians’ posture reflects their immersion in the song being played.”

The above-mentioned sketch of the piece from 1965 is reproduced in the book accompanying the exhibition “Richard Kaljo. Stories in Graphics and Letters” held at Kumu in 2014-2015, on page 126 (EKM, 2014). The prints up for auction this time come to us directly from the Richard Kaljo estate, with which we celebrate the maestro’s 110th birthday.

Text: Katre Palm, Harry Liivrand