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Europeana 1914-18 draft

Decisive years prior to the Independence: moments in Estonian art in 1914–18

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Intro

German battleship SMS Großer Kurfürst during Operation Albion near island Saaremaa in 1917.

First World War could also be described as a forgotten war in Estonia. Since the conquest of it in the Great Northern War at the beginning of 18th century, the Estonian territory had been part of the Russian Empire and just like with previous wars the Estonians were drafted into military service to fight for the foreign state, but all of that remained somewhat distant. The scale of the war and the proximity of it had indeed made it more significant, than for instance the previous wars with the Turks or the Russo-Japanese War, but as everything is measured in comparison with something, then we must also look at what followed it, to get the sense of what the war meant for Estonians in the long run.

The power vacuum in the Russian Empire at the end of the war made it possible to seek for independence for many nations within the former Empire. So did Estonians and the act of declaring independence inevitably resulted in the Estonian War of Independence with Russia and with Baltische Landeswehr. That war with three separate sides, what lasted from 28 November 1918 to 2 February 1920 and resulted in the independence of a nation, what had been under foreign rule for the last 700 years, quickly became defined as the most significant achievement in the history of that nation. The far reaching results of the Great War, like the dissolution of big Empires in Europe, guided the course of the next century to come, but many of the events happening during the war or directly following it took the attention and perceived importance from that conflict.

In the years 1914 to 1918 around 100 000 Estonians were mobilized. A remarkable number for a nation of mere one million. And with great losses in the Russian army many Estonians got the chance of rising in the ranks, that prepared them for leading their own groups of soldiers in the upcoming war, what marked the high point in Estonian history. But that same vicinity to that new struggle also rendered the previous experience, what took the lives of 10 000 men, into a draggy training exercise. A notion, what the Estonians may share with many other nations, whose existence found a new vigor in the newly found statehood a century ago.

Declaration of Estonian independence in Pärnu in February 23th, 1918.

Just like the world order had been turned on its head and Europe had the task of rebuilding itself, major changes in the cultural sphere took place. Old was quickly vanishing and making way for the very new. Technological advancements and new social order only fastened the progress. Even in Estonia, it was just a blink of an eye when the natives, priorly seen to belong to a lower caste, took the leading positions in all of the fields of life. Seemingly coming out from nowhere but the process had started long before and it was just the changes in the social order, that helped to catalyze the speed of events unfolding. But what did the Estonian art scene looked like during those years? With the first art exhibition with Estonian authors, as it later got to be named, happening only as late as 1906, this later period in the next decade presented in this virtual exhibition shows the very youth of the Estonian art with the artist looking to develop their own unique styles and to make name for themselves.

Outside world was stepping in with its modernist movements in the midst of chaos and with the hopes of greater autonomy the need to define what is Estonian in its essence grow stronger by day. The war may have acted as a force of destruction in the West, but in the borders of this small country, it propitiated the spread of knowledge about the external world. Just like the poet Gustav Suits had previously written in relation with the literary group Young Estonia established around 1905: "Let us remain Estonians, but let us become Europeans too". It is yet to be looked into on how did the formerly agrarian societies in Eastern Europe joined the ranks of modernized countries and how that cultural shift flowed through them. May this be a glimpse of the defining moments prior to the birth of Estonian state.

This exhibition was set together by:

Ivo Kruusamägi (Wikipedia)
Merli-Triin Eiskop (Tartu Art Museum)
Stina Sarapuu (Art Museum of Estonia)

Images

Konrad Mägi. Sea Kales (1913–1914)
Herbert Lukk. Haystacks (1914)
Nikolai Triik. View from a Window (1914)
Nikolai Triik. Portrait of O. Martna (1914)
Kristjan Raud. Witch and Piglets (1914)
Oskar Kallis. Making Headstand (1914)
Välko Tuul. Portrait of an Old Man (1914)
Ants Laikmaa. Landscape with a Farm (Saaremaa Landscape) (1914)
Ants Laikmaa. Tunisian girl (Bedouin Woman in White) (1914)
Ants Laikmaa. Portrait of a Bedouin Woman (1915)
Nikolai Triik. View on Tallinn (1915)
Erich Kügelgen. Motif (1915)
Lilly Walther. Sitting female Figure (Portrait of Mrs Bremen) (1915)
Lilly Walther. Riverside Landscape (1915)
Oskar Kallis. Siuru Bird from Estonian National Epic ʻKalevipoegʼ (1915)
Välko Tuul. Adam and Eve (1915)
Välko Tuul. Viking Ships (1915)
Välko Tuul. Man in Chains (1915–1917)
Konrad Mägi. Landscape from Estonia (1915–16)
Konrad Mägi. On the Road from Viljandi to Tartu (1915–16)
Konrad Mägi. Meditation (Landscape with a Woman) (1915–1916)
Konrad Mägi. Portrait of Ida Menning (1915–1916)
Jaan Koort. Portrait of Artist’s Wife (1916)
Oskar Kallis. Dance of Life (1916)
Paul Burman. Still Life (Flowers) (1916)
Balder Tomasberg. Heroic Landscape (1916)
Johannes Einsild. Otepää landscape (1917)
Nikolai Triik. Old Garden (1917)
Nikolai Triik. Portrait of Ella Lüüs (1917)
Aleksander Uurits. Portrait of a Lady (1917)
Oskar Kallis. Linda Carrying a Rock (1917)
Oskar Kallis. Kiss from a Sun (1917)
Aleksander Uurits. Warriors on Horseback (1917)
Aleksander Uurits. Military Hospital (1914–17)
Villem Ormisson. Still life with colored eggs (1914–18)
Konrad Mägi. Portrait of a Man (1917–18)
Konrad Mägi. Portrait of Ado Vabbe (1918)
Herbert Lukk. Self-Portrait (1918)
Kuno Veeber. Potato Harvest (1918)
Ants Laikmaa. Taebla-Nõmme (1918)
Balder Tomasberg. View of Paldiski (1918)
Balder Tomasberg. Nocturno (1918)
Balder Tomasberg. Dream (1918)
Lilly Walther. View between Jalta and Hursuf (1918)
Herbert Lukk. View over Tallinn towards the Harbour (1918)
Herbert Lukk. Courtyard (1918)