The Mei Sisters: Avant-Garde and the Everyday Life
The sisters Kristine (1895–1969), Lydia (1896–1965) and Natalie (1900–1975) Mei, daughters of a mariner from the island of Hiiumaa, entered the Estonian art life in the second half of the 1910s. They included in their works themes and viewpoints that were unusual for female creators, rising into the ranks of the classic masters of Estonian modernism by using marginal and less appreciated techniques.
The exhibition contains drawings, watercolours, small sculptures and collages, as well as everyday items and unique handmade booklets authored under pseudonyms. The works reflect the times of the artistic sisters with immediacy and directness. Besides socio-critical attitudes, which were very unusual for female authors, we also find re-interpretations of canonical artworks. The works often have humorous undertones.
The Estonian art world was introduced to the works of the three sisters at the third exhibition of the Pallas Art Society in 1919, where Kristine, Lydia and Natalie Mei were the only woman artists. The oldest sister, Kristine, was the first Estonian woman to graduate as a sculptor, in 1916 from the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Society in Helsinki, and started to work as a teacher of modelling upon her return to Estonia. Lydia, who was a year younger, had studied architecture for three years in women’s higher architectural courses and the polytechnic institute in St Petersburg. The youngest of the sisters, Natalie, whose artistic career began with the 1919 exhibition, started to study art three years later at the Pallas Art School, from which she graduated – the first woman – in 1924. Five years later, she started working as a costume designer at the Estonia theatre, improving the quality of the scenography. She later shared her knowledge for nearly a quarter of a century with future stage and costume artists at the State Art Institute of the ESSR (now the Estonian Academy of Arts). Lydia Mei (also known as Lydia Starkopf-Mei) became a masterful and productive watercolourist who made contributions to various monuments of the Estonian War of Independence. Later in her life, she painted porcelain as well. Kristine Mei (also known as Kristine Mark) was active in small-scale sculpture and calligraphy; like her youngest sister, she designed numerous books. All three of the sisters were known for their bookplate designs.
A wider context to the works by the Mei sisters is created by rich photo material and a look at their circle of friends. Dora Gordine, Peet Aren, Otto Krusten, Anton Starkopf, Karin Luts, Marita Walldén and Albin Kaasinen were among the sisters’ closest artistic friends at different times.
Curators: Kai Stahl, Eha Komissarov, Ulrika Jõemägi
Exhibition design: Laura Pählapuu
Graphic design: Külli Kaats
Coordinator: Magdaleena Maasik