{"id":142501,"date":"2025-01-18T02:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/?p=142501"},"modified":"2025-01-15T14:15:23","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T12:15:23","slug":"avant-garde-artists-behind-the-iron-curtain-kaja-karner-and-ulo-sooster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/avant-garde-artists-behind-the-iron-curtain-kaja-karner-and-ulo-sooster\/","title":{"rendered":"Avant-Garde artists behind the Iron Curtain: Kaja K\u00e4rner and \u00dclo Sooster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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The Tartu Circle and Estonia’s Avant-garde Artists<\/b><\/h2>\n

The two retrospective exhibitions by Kaja K\u00e4rner<\/b> (1920-1998) and <\/i>\u00dclo Sooster<\/b> (1924-1970) are currently on display in Tallinn. <\/i>The exhibitions Friendship and Time<\/i> and Sooster 100: View from Private Collections<\/i> and Kaja K\u00e4rner: Friendship and Time <\/i>offer a great opportunity to explore the works and lives of two of Estonia\u2019s most significant artists.<\/p>\n

Both K\u00e4rner and Sooster studied at the Pallas Art School in Tartu during the 1940s, a prestigious institution during Estonia\u2019s independence era. They were central figures in the Tartu Circle, a group of friends who created avant-garde art together. The exhibitions include portraits the artists painted of each other, reflecting their deep friendship and collaboration.<\/p>\n

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\u00dclo Sooster in his studio on Sretensky Boulevard, Moscow, 1970.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u00dclo Sooster\u2019s portrait of Kaja K\u00e4rner, circa 1946\u20131948. Oil. Private collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cK\u00e4rner was such a talented student that, upon graduating in 1949, she was invited to teach drawing at the State Art Institute of Tartu (formerly Pallas). However, that same year, Soviet-Estonian repressions began, which particularly affected the cultural community,\u201d says Kersti Koll<\/b>, curator of the K\u00e4rner exhibition.<\/p>\n

The male members of the collective, including Sooster, and one female member, Ester Potisepp<\/b>, were deported to Siberian labour camps. K\u00e4rner lost her membership in the Estonian Artists’ Union and her teaching position. For the next nine years, she designed shop advertisements.<\/p>\n

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\u00dclo Sooster’s Three Green Junipers, 1966\u20131968. Oil, textured paste. Heiki M\u00f6lder’s collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u00dclo Sooster: A \u201cpersona non grata\u201d in Estonia<\/b><\/h2>\n

Sooster and other male members of the Tartu Circle returned from the camps in 1956. Despite their reunion, Sooster faced envy and political persecution, making life in Estonia untenable. He moved back to Moscow to join his Russian wife, Lidia Serhi<\/b>. Despite the challenges and distance, friendships within the group endured, with Sooster visiting Estonia and hosting friends in Moscow. When Sooster arrived in Tartu, his first stop was typically the studio of K\u00e4rner or Valve Janov<\/b>.<\/p>\n

In Moscow, Sooster quickly became a prominent figure in the underground art community and a dissident. He was a highly prolific artist, creating thousands of drawings and paintings during his short life. Today, he is one of the most internationally recognised Estonian artists.<\/p>\n

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Kaja K\u00e4rner’s Haircut, 1959. Oil, canvas. Estonian Art Museum collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Underground art with European spirit
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K\u00e4rner\u2019s paintings of the Tartu Circle are now displayed at the Adamson-Eric Museum. \u201cThe Tartu group of friends wanted to maintain the legacy of the pre-war French school of painting and the European spirit, and to embrace new, Western art movements and bring them to the forefront in their works,\u201d Kersti Koll describes.<\/p>\n

An example is K\u00e4rner\u2019s Listening to the Voice of America<\/i>, depicting the artists\u2019 yearning for free expression. Such works, however, could not be exhibited due to their anti-Soviet sentiment. K\u00e4rner\u2019s palette is nuanced and warm, capturing fleeting moments with subtle irony and layered interpretations.<\/p>\n

Sooster\u2019s surrealist works often feature fish, junipers, and eggs. He employed raised textures in many of his pieces, showing an early inclination toward conceptual and postmodern art.<\/p>\n

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Exhibition Details:<\/b><\/p>\n