The Kumu Art Museum invites you to an exhibition about destroyed and lost art

2016 03 04 — 2016 06 26
Author Echo Gone Wrong

KUMUOn 4 March, the Kumu opens the conceptual exhibition “Force majeure. The Destroyed and the Disappeared in Estonian Art”, where the audience is shown the fate of hundreds of lost artworks.

In addition to the visible side of Estonian art, there is another, hidden one: works of art that have been destroyed or lost, sometimes comprising whole periods of artists’ oeuvre. The fate of lost artworks has largely been determined by the force majeure of randomness and historical events.

The development of Estonian art is closely linked to drastic events in history. A significant role was played by the revolution of 1905, the demise of many young artists in the War of Independence, the foundation of the republic, the nationalisation of manors and the relocation of Baltic Germans with all their possessions in 1939. And naturally we cannot overlook the chaos of World War II.

In 1900–1945 more works of art than ever before or after were lost or destroyed. The data about what is no more is extremely fragmentary and nearly non-existent. The list of lost or destroyed artworks includes thousands of pieces by the best-known Estonian masters: Amandus Adamson, August Jansen, Nikolai Triik, Ants Laikmaa, Johannes Greenberg, Ado Vabbe, Edmond Arnold Blumenfeldt, Konrad Mägi, Kristjan Raud, Paul Burman and others.

The curator Liis Pählapuu says that the objective of the exhibition is to provide an initial overview of the works that disappeared in the years 1900–1945. It is our first attempt to shed light on the complicated topic of lost Estonian works of art, and to bring into focus the state and private collections damaged in the mayhem of war, as well as the oeuvre of outstanding contemporary artists, whose works formed the majority of the collections compiled in the 1920s to 1940s.

The exhibition is accompanied by a book compiled by Liis Pählapuu and based on abundant archival materials.

The exhibition’s Facebook page contains photos of lost works. We hope that with the help of the Facebook community, some of these pieces can be recovered. The page shares information on lost works of art, and we are looking forward to receiving people’s comments and recollections about them. People can post photos of artworks by unknown artists, and the community will jointly attempt to ascribe them.

The exhibition includes visitor programmes, for instance a workshop by Alar Nurkse, a conservator at the Art Museum of Estonia on 31 March, in which he gives advice on maintaining and displaying works of art. The 6th and 13th of March are reserved for family mornings, when they can together trace lost artworks.

The exhibition “Force majeure. The Destroyed and the Disappeared in Estonian Art” will remain open until 26 June 2016.

Curator: Liis Pählapuu
Exhibition design and graphic design by: Liina Siib

We thank: Mai Levin, Tiiu Talvistu, Mare Joonsalu, Peeter Talvistu, Pekka Erelt, Enn Kunila, Indrek Ilomets, Eero Epner, Tiit Jürna, Ulrika Jõemägi, Helen Melesk, Külli Kaats, Rita Kroon, Anne Untera, Renita Raudsepp, Kaidi Vahar and Liina Siib