<i>Poet's Donation to Estonia</i> shows the Estonian poet Juhan Liiv standing in an empty snowfield. He has taken off his coat, offering his homeland the only thing he has got left. Lembit Sarapuu has painted an ironic commentary on the artist's position, or more generally speaking on culture as a whole in the young Republic of Estonia, and the eternal conflict of values. At the same time we can perceive in the work an allusion to the existing hierarchies within cultural circles. Besides financiers and protégés, there are also outsiders, and creative capacity is far from being the only thing that determines success. In addition to the artist's position as the "social lunatic", the image of Juhan Liiv also offers other modes of interpretation. As the creation of Liiv, Sarapuu's art is primarily based on the sense of location; through use of land and landscape it refers to the cognition of life that is substantial to a nation. Since the later half of the 1980s the main themes in Sarapuu's work have been taken from Estonian folklore and classical mythology, and in his interpretation he links the classical world with Estonian landscapes. There are elements of naivity in Sarapuu's work but also of personal independent painting style that defies any conventional classification. Anu Allas

Lembit Sarapuu
Poet's Donation to Estonia

 

 Copyright Notice
Artist: Lembit Sarapuu (1930 - 2024)
Title: Poet's Donation to Estonia
Date: 2000
Technique:
Material:		 oil
canvas
Height (cm): 110.0
Width (cm): 85.0
Description: Poet's Donation to Estonia shows the Estonian poet Juhan Liiv standing in an empty snowfield. He has taken off his coat, offering his homeland the only thing he has got left. Lembit Sarapuu has painted an ironic commentary on the artist's position, or more generally speaking on culture as a whole in the young Republic of Estonia, and the eternal conflict of values. At the same time we can perceive in the work an allusion to the existing hierarchies within cultural circles. Besides financiers and protégés, there are also outsiders, and creative capacity is far from being the only thing that determines success. In addition to the artist's position as the "social lunatic", the image of Juhan Liiv also offers other modes of interpretation. As the creation of Liiv, Sarapuu's art is primarily based on the sense of location; through use of land and landscape it refers to the cognition of life that is substantial to a nation. Since the later half of the 1980s the main themes in Sarapuu's work have been taken from Estonian folklore and classical mythology, and in his interpretation he links the classical world with Estonian landscapes. There are elements of naivity in Sarapuu's work but also of personal independent painting style that defies any conventional classification.

Anu Allas
Exhibition history: 2022 Kumu Art Museum Lembit Sarapuu: Reality and Actuality
Related categories: Contemporary Art
Copyright notice: Art Museum of Estonia
AME collection: Paintings collection
Collection number: M 7108
Accretion number: EKM j 48444
Muis reference http://muis.ee/museaalView/1448759
File info: Source type: digital photography
File type: TIF
File size: 108.63MB
Resolution: 5255*7224px @ 300dpi