Colors of nature in the paintings of artists of the Baltic States


“Greenpeace, green literature, think green!” – everything seems to be clichéd, when it comes to the issues connected with nature and ecology. However, nature is definitely much more varicolored.


Konrad Mägi On the Road from Viljandi to Tartu         Photo by S.Hatšaturjan

All sorts of hues, shades, contrasts are present in nature. Look at the gold, amber, burnt orange leaves in autumn, or aquamarine, cyan, cobalt blue sea, or hot pink, vermilion, scarlet clouds at dawn.

 Photo by S.Hatšaturjan
           Konrad Mägi Landscape with Sun  


You should not be an artist to notice the multifarious picturesqueness of nature. And yet, paraphrasing Etienne Terblanche´s words from his article “Butterfly Dialectics in Modern Poetry” artists´ flaming “undermining of cliches that have over time narrowed perception of nature, helps to discover its beauty and discern the slightest gradations of the colors of nature.

Antanas Žmuidzinavičius The Land of Tumuli



Until February, 3, 2019, everyone interested in the representation of nature in artistic works can visit Kumu, headquarters of the Art Museum of Estonia (https://kumu.ekm.ee/en/) and enjoy the wonderful exhibition “Wild Souls. Symbolism in the Art of the Baltic States.” The oeuvre of famous symbolist artists from the Baltic countries, such as Janis Rozentāls, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Kristjan Raud, Konrad Mägi, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius and others, is featured in the exhibition.

Photo by S. Hatšaturjan
                                 Vilhelms Purvītis Spring Waters



Green color of nature can look worryingly strange, as for example green grass and daisy at the end of this November in Estonia. Such pictures evoke the idea of global warming and its unintended effect.

Photo by S.Hatšaturjan

In the run up to Christmas season the following landscape of an Estonia artist Konrad Mägi seems to be more natural and desirable.



Konrad Mägi Winter Landscape

Please write in the comments which artists inspire you to think about the beauty of nature and its preservation.



Svetlana Hatšaturjan

Comments

  1. Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Claude Monet, Edouard Manet and many many many others...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Antanad Žmuidzinavičius enspires Me, others as Monet, Konrad Mägi etc

    ReplyDelete
  3. Claude Monet is my all-time favorite painter. Also: Ivan Aizavovski, Nikolai Rerih, Viktor Vasnetsov, Ivan Shishkin, Oleg Ladygin, Maksim Iljin, Gunnar Neeme

    ReplyDelete
  4. Estonian painter is Konrad Mägi. Also Kuindzi paintings about moon at the night

    ReplyDelete
  5. Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh are my favorites. Unusual paintings.
    I like your notice about global warming.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I noticed that Claude Monet is a kind of leader for now))

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank your for this wonderful virtual excursion! :)

    ReplyDelete

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