Artist report or review
national romantic art ideas in the 1930s when quite different winds were already blowing even in the remote
European province of Estonia.
Characteristic of Estonian folklore Kristjan Rauds work contains very few light and playful undertones. The image
of a singing Kalevipoeg is one of the most joyful motifs in the artists entire work. More than 40 drawings and
sketches picture Kalevipoeg as a triumphant giant standing on a hillside and singing to his brothees. In Rauds
work Kalevipoeg is a joyous king forever young like the dream of ancient country people who wish for a crowned
king of their own: a king never crowned.
In the spring of 1940, shortly before the forceful incorporation of Estonia into the Soviet Union, the last prewar art
event tok place in Estonia the year of Kristjan Raud. That year was dedicated to the artist in connection with his
75th birthday.
annaabi.ee 
