Exhibition Views 2013

December 4, 2012-March 30, 2014, Adamson-Eric Museum ^:
The exhibition celebrating the museum’s jubilee examines the story of the artist couple, who are legends in Estonian cultural history, for the first time. The 2nd of December marked the 30th year since the establishment of the Adamson-Eric Museum. The foundation was laid for the creation of the museum as a branch of the Art Museum of Estonia by an extraordinary gift from Mari Adamson, who was a professor of textile arts: she donated almost 1,000 of her husband’s works to form the core of the Adamson-Eric Museum’s collection.

Curators: Kersti Koll and Ülle Kruus
Designer: Andres Tolts
Graphic designer: Kätlin Tischler

September 6-November 24, 2013, Adamson-Eric Museum 
During the 20th century, it became the practice for contemporary artists to portray the beloved actors and singers of their day. In the exhibition, interesting creative personalities and their legendary roles are portrayed in paintings, graphic arts and sculpture.
This year, the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Estonia Theatre and Concert Hall, which is a national symbol for Estonians, will be celebrated with a large-scale and broad-ranging programme that includes The Denizens of the Estonia Theatre in Fine Arts. The exhibition and the accompanying programme have been organized in collaboration with the Estonia National Opera, the Estonian Theatre and Music Museum and the Estonia Theatre and Music Society.

Curator: Ülle Kruus

June 7-September 1, 2013, Adamson-Eric Museum 
Juhan Muks was born in Viljandimaa, where he acquired a general education; later he attended the Pallas Art School and from there went on to Paris. Back in Estonia, Viljandi became his home town, where he painted portraits, landscapes, still lifes and compositions, as well as participating in exhibitions. The mayor of Viljandi ordered a large mural for the City Hall and, in 1932, the artist’s first solo exhibition took place in the same hall.
After another stay in Paris, Juhan Muks returned to Viljandi, where the view of Lake Viljandi that he saw from his home inspired him for decades. Although he had to endure a temporary expulsion from the Estonian S.S.R. Union of Artists, after his membership was restored a new creative period filled with searching started for him.

Curator: Ülle Kruus
Designer: Inga Heamägi

March 22-June 2, 2013, Adamson-Eric Museum 
The ancient painting technique, which arrived in Japan from China along with Zen Buddhism as one of the components of its cultural influence, was quickly adapted to the Japanese aesthetic and became one of the principal forms of expression of Japanese art. The early sumi-e masters were Zen Buddhist monks, who practised ink-wash painting primarily as a form of spiritual meditation. The Zen masters dedicated years to this art, which requires very intensive mental concentration to achieve supreme clarity. In time, sumi-e became more worldly and decorative. In the 20th century, many of the principles of sumi-e served as sources of inspiration for Western modernist art.
Ink-wash painting (sumi-e) is one of the principal and most characteristic forms of Japanese art; it is born on paper through the combined impact of ink and water. By executing numerous shade nuances in ink using masterful brush techniques and playing with the contrasts between images and shadows, as well as the eloquent emptiness on the surface of the pictures, the sumi-e artist creates a sensitive field of meaning, which also leaves the viewer with ample room for thought. The specifics of ink-wash painting do not allow that which has been created to be changed or reworked. Technically, this requires great skill and mental concentration on the part of the artist.

Curators: Kersti Koll (Art Museum of Estonia) and Taimi Paves (Ars Orientalis)
Designer: Andres Tolts
Graphic designer: Külli Kaats