The Art Museum of Estonia has received a substantial donation from the heirs of Ülle Meister

On 27 August this year, Ülle Meister (1948–2021) would have turned 78. To mark the occasion, the artist’s heirs donated 64 of her works to the Art Museum of Estonia: 18 watercolours, four drawings and 42 prints.

Known as an illustrator of many much-loved children’s books, Ülle Meister’s works can be found in every Estonian home and have won the hearts of children who have grown up over the last half-century. Ülle Meister collaborated with several renowned children’s authors and poets, such as Leelo Tungal, Heljo Mänd and Kuulo Kutsar. A large proportion of the originals of Ülle Meister’s book illustrations have been in the care of the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre since 2023.

The prints, drawings and watercolours by Ülle Meister, donated to the Art Museum of Estonia, complement the overview of developments in Estonian printmaking from the 1960s to the 1990s. They reflect such themes as the Soviet-era culture of mountain hiking, as well as an interest in Finno-Ugric peoples and their heritage. Besides depictions of an imaginary Finno-Ugric past and ethnographic world – in which the influence of Kaljo Põllu’s evocative print cycles is evident – Ülle Meister’s interest in the Finno-Ugric peoples as her contemporaries deserves attention.

The continuing relevance of Ülle Meister’s works is demonstrated by the fact that several of the donated works have been included in the exhibition “Expedition: Finno-Ugrians and the Power of Images”, opening at the Kumu Art Museum in October.

The graphic designer and artist Ülle Meister was born in 1948 in Lüganuse, Viru County. After graduating in 1973 from the Estonian State Art Institute with a specialisation in graphic design as a book designer and illustrator, Meister took up a post as an art editor at the Valgus publishing house. Later, while working as a freelance illustrator and artist, she became a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association, the Estonian Graphic Designers’ Association and the Estonian Watercolourists’ Association.