Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on canvas. 1959.
Signature: V Pirk 959 / Varmo Pirk “Pangodi järv” (õli) 1959 53×72

Varmo Pirk (1913–1980), a Pallas graduate, was arrested in 1945 just before he could defend his thesis and so, like many of his fellow artists, ended up in a prison camp for years, from which he only returned in 1954. Back in Tartu, he came into contact with Aleksander Vardi and, under his influence, began to paint in a more impressionistic style.

“Pangodi Lake”, enriched with coloristic and decorative qualities, was completed in the year when he was creatively back in his formerly excellent form and joined the Estonian Artists’ Union. Against the background of Pirk’s later, stylized work, it is a glorification of the impressionist style of painting.

Pirk has taken on the task of expressing the feeling of early spring nature and has masterfully managed to do so. The artist is able to successfully combine brownish treetops, snowy land, white sky and the water surface reflecting all of this into a single picturesque whole.

Text: Harry Liivrand, Katre Palm