22.10.2024 | Culture

Exhibition to mark one hundred years since the birth of visual artist Ülo Sooster opens at the Mikkel Museum

Text Susanna Poikela
Photos Private collection, Jaan Klõšeiko. Art Museum of Estonia,
Collection of Mart Lepp, Sooster family collection, 
Collection of Viljar Suits, Collection of Heiki Mölder

Ülo Sooster (1924–1970). Landscape with Eyes. 1968. Oil. Private collection

An exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ülo Sooster, titled Sooster 100, opened last week at the Mikkel Museum, in Tallinn. The exhibition features nearly 160 of Sooster’s works from private collections, many of which have never been on public display before.

Ülo Sooster (1924–1970) is regarded as one of the greatest European surrealists of the 20th century. Although his career and life were cut short, he left behind a vast collection of thousands of drawings and paintings that transcended the Iron Curtain and became an integral part of both European and Estonian surrealist art history.

The Mikkel Museum’s exhibition – Sooster 100: A View from Private Collections – follows the artist’s career, from his early painting experiments in Hiiumaa to the enigmatic, unfinished compositions from the final years of his life.

His life took a dramatic turn after spending seven years in a Soviet prison camp in Kazakhstan, after which he never returned to live in Estonia.

A significant part of the collection comes from the Sooster family’s private archive, which was moved from Moscow to Tartu in 1990. Included in the collection are unfinished paintings from his later years, that reflect Sooster’s shift towards more conceptual art. A particularly notable piece is a rare pencil drawing of the Mona Lisa, in which the eyes and mouth have been humorously swapped.

Sooster 100: A View from Private Collections will be on display at the Mikkel Museum in Tallinn until May 4, 2025.