Lepo Mikko (1911–1978)
Location: 2nd floor, Great Hall
Lepo Mikko, who graduated from the Pallas Art School in 1939, was a dedicated modernist, for whom a powerful creative stimulus was provided by the spiritual liberation and changing atmosphere during the transition from the 1950s to the 1960s.
The creative heyday of the graduates of the Pallas School, who were toughened by post-war instability and Stalinist art policies, was the period of Khrushchev’s Thaw. Lepo Mikko was able to capture and communicate the substantial optimism in Soviet Estonian society that characterised the period between the late 1950s and the second half of the 1960s. The exhibition introduces both the artist’s monumental paintings that deal with social themes and also small format works, the execution of which is perhaps even more interesting. It is difficult to find anything comparable in Estonian art.
The book accompanying the exhibition is the first publication that deals in depth with Lepo Mikko’s life and activities. The various aspects of the artist’s work are examined: the exhibition curator Anu Liivak writes in detail about Mikko’s work, the art historian Tiina Ann Kirss examines the textual legacy of the painter, and the art historian Tamara Luuk examines Mikko’s role as a teacher.
The Art Museum of Estonia wishes to thank the following for their cooperation: Lepo Mikko’s heirs, the Tartu Art Museum, Mart Lepp, Enn Kunila and the other owners of works on loan for this exhibition, the Film Archives of the National Archives of Estonia, Eesti Digikeskus and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, which is sponsoring the exhibition.
Curator: Anu Liivak
Exhibition design: Juta Lember and Tiit Pääsuke
Graphic Design: Tiit Jürna
We thank:
Lepo Mikko’s heirs, the Tartu Art Museum, Mart Lepp, Enn Kunila and other private collectors, the Film Archives of the National Archives of Estonia, Eesti Digikeskus
Supporter:
Cultural Endowment of Estonia
