Eerik Haamer – On Both Sides of the Sea
Location: 2nd floor, Great Hall
The works expressing the nature and destiny of man in Eerik Haamer’s homeland period became classics long ago. The beginning of the artist’s creative work dates back about ten years before the war, but the normal development of his artistic life was disrupted by social devastation. In 1944, Estonians were faced with difficult choices that split up the small nation and its culture. The temporary departure of the people escaping over the sea from the Soviet occupation became an exile period lasting for more than half a century; most of the escapees did not see the end of the exile period. Leaving the country in 1944 on a boat, Haamer disappeared from the view of the local sphere of art, because during the following fifty years he was active as an artist in Sweden. This long period, which was creatively productive, witnessed several changes in Haamer’s artistic approach and position.
The aim of the exhibition is to separate the core of Haamer’s works, to show its significant aspects and to give a thorough introduction of the Swedish period. Haamer’s production was divided into periods and his basic themes were outlined. The exhibition serves as a narrative in pictures depicting the route the artist took – his conception of the world, his journeys, and changes in his attitudes.
People were the main focus of Haamer’s work. He found his people and motifs in the countryside. The fact that the people unspoiled by civilisation happened to live on the coast was due to Haamer’s origin – his roots were in Saaremaa – and his failed childhood dream of becoming a sailor. Haamer’s image of the individual is usually a generalisation, not a portrait. In his domestic creation, we frequently see a figure with an oval face, slightly opened lips and with a somewhat frightened expression. This expression holds confusion, though at the same time it expresses withdrawal and inwardness, as if something substantial is being experienced at the very moment.
With the exception of a few early romantic works, Haamer’s paintings are not idyllic. He was always interested in social issues, in life itself. Very often his figural works tell a common “story”, a person struggling with the difficulties of life.
Although Haamer also achieved a close feeling of being alone with his characters during his Swedish period, the exile paintings differ in the fragility of the feeling of connectedness. Haamer never got used to living in Sweden, and his paintings express his loss of roots.
The most sudden change in Haamer’s vision of man occurred at the end of the 1960s, when his characters became more grotesque and, between the lines of cheerful scenes, we can see sharp satire addressed to the oddities of the Swedes. These vivid and satirical characters do not have much in common with the world of the serious people we see in the artist’s earlier paintings. Although in Sweden the superficial merriment of the paintings is sometimes simplistically connected with Haamer’s identity, it is not in disagreement with his seriousness. Splendid insular humour made Haamer enticing as a person and enabled him to remain an artist until the end of his exile period.
Curator: Reeli Kõiv (Tartu Art Museum)
