Works by Two Abstract Artists in Pärnu

Text Timo Raussi

Photos Marie Virta / UKM

The Museum of New Art in Pärnu has opened an exhibition entitled “Dialogue”, featuring a selection of works from the past 25 years by two veteran Estonian painters, Mari Roosvalt, b. 1945, and Jaan Elken, b. 1954. The theme of dialogue has been created by comparing how the artists’ forms of expression have changed over the decades through their works. For this reason, the exhibition also includes some of the pair’s earlier works from the 1990s.

Roosvalt held her first solo exhibition at an art salon in Tallinn in 1979. Even then, geometric and abstract art influences could be seen in her neo-objective still lifes and figurative compositions. Later, her works began to incorporate newspaper clippings glued among the colours on canvas, as well as digital prints made from photographs.

Elken, meanwhile, made his debut at the Tallinn Art Hall’s spring exhibition in 1978 as a hyperrealist. The expressionist features of his paintings included thick palette-knife and brush strokes, as well as inscriptions made by squeezing paint directly from the tube onto the canvas. Later, his works have incorporated, among other things, textiles, Soviet-era state flags and various slogan texts.

The work of both artists is part of the broad field of Estonian abstract art, which has received recognition from many parts of the world. Works by Roosvalt and Elken have been acquired for the collections of museums and private collectors as far afield as Mexico, the USA and Australia.

The “Dialogue” exhibition is on display for approximately one month, until 18 October 2026.

The Museum of New Art in Pärnu, known in Estonian as Uue kunsti muuseum, is located between Pärnu bus station and Independence Square, at Rüütli 40a. The museum is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm, and during the winter season, pensioners can visit the exhibitions at half price on Thursdays, paying just €3. Presenting an Estonian Museum Card at the ticket desk provides free admission to the exhibition halls.

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Art Exhibition Contemporary Art Exhibitions Jaan Elken Mari Roosvalt Museum of New Art in Pärnu Pärnu