Ants Laikmaa (5 May 1866 – 19 November 1942) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n painter.lla Rosenfeld, Norton T. Dodge, Jane Voorhees, ''Art of the Baltics: The Struggle for Freedom of Artistic Expression Under the Soviets, 1945-1991'', Rutgers University Press, 2001, , p34

Life

Ants Laikmaa (until 1935 Hans Laipman) was born in Paiba farm,

Araste Araste is a village in Märjamaa Parish, Rapla County in western Estonia. (retrieved 28 July 2021) Painter Ants Laikmaa (Hans Laipman) (1866–1942) and freedom activist (1865–1906) were born in Araste. References

Villages in Rapla ...

village,

Märjamaa Parish Märjamaa Parish ( et, Märjamaa vald) is an Estonian municipality located in Rapla County. It had a population of 7,015 (as of November 2012) and an area of 1,164 km2 (336.54 mi2). Märjamaa Parish was the biggest municipality in Est ...

. He was the 13th child of a poor Estonian family. He attended schools in Velise,

Haapsalu Haapsalu () is a seaside resort town located on the west coast of Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Lääne County, and on 1 January 2020 it had a population of 9,375. Description Haapsalu has been well known for centuries for its w ...

and

Lihula Lihula is a town in Lääneranna Parish, Pärnu County, Estonia. Lihula castle The castle of Lihula (german: Leal) was first mentioned in 1211, but it appears the site was used as a fortress since the Iron Age. In 1220, a Swedish army starte ...

. His mother died when he was a child. Laikmaa discovered early his interest in painting. He studied from 1891 to 1893 and 1896/97 at the

Düsseldorf Art Academy Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. From 1897 to 1899 he was working in Düsseldorf. He is associated with the

Düsseldorf school of painting The Düsseldorf school of painting is a term referring to a group of painters who taught or studied at the Düsseldorf Academy (now the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or Düsseldorf State Art Academy) during the 1830s and 1840s, when the A ...

. In autumn of 1899 he returned to

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

. From 1900 to 1907 Laikmaa worked as an artist in Tallinn and Haapsalu. Study led him to Belgium, France, Austria, Finland and the Netherlands. 1901 he organized the first ever Estonian art exhibition in Tallinn, 1906 followed by the first art exhibition in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

. 1903, he founded a studio in Tallinn. 1907 he founded the Estonian Art Association (Eesti Kunstiselts). In 1904 the 38-year-old Laikmaa met the great love of his life, the 21-year-old

Marie Under Marie Under ( – 25 September 1980) was one of the greatest Estonian poets. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 12 separate years. Early life Under was born in Reval (now Tallinn), Estonia to school teachers ...

, one of the best-known poets of the time. In the same year he painted two portraits of her, counted as the most famous of Laikmaa paintings. From 1907 to 1909 he was mainly in Finland. 1909 to 1913 he traveled to the major art cities in Europe. He lived from 1910 to 1912 in Capri and Tunisia. From 1913 to 1931 Laikmaa worked as a freelance artist and art teacher in Tallinn. Among others, his pupils included the young

Alfred Rosenberg Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head of ...

. 1927 his only daughter Aino Marie (later Anu Kilpiö, died 1969) was born, a child of his model nicknamed "Miku". In 1932 Laikmaa settled in the vicinity of

Taebla Taebla is a small borough (') in Lääne County, Estonia, the administrative centre of Lääne-Nigula Parish. It has a population of 929 (as of 1 January 2010). Notable people Michael Roos Michael Roos (born Mihkel Roos, October 5, 1982) is ...

Lääne County Lääne County ( et, Lääne maakond or ''Läänemaa'', literally "Western land"; german: Wiek; la, Rotalia) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in western Estonia and borders the Baltic Sea to the north, Harju County to the north-ea ...

, on his farm in Kadarpiku village designed with a 7-hectare park, where he remained and worked until the end of his life. Ants Laikmaa died in November 1942 in Kadarpiku, where he is also buried. Laikmaa remained unmarried all his life. His farm was opened in 1960 as a museum to his life and work.

Work

Ants Laikmaa is best known for his pastel painting. He brought

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

to Estonia, and often painted landscapes, mostly with sharp colors. His portraits of the intellectual and artistic elite of Estonia are also well known. He was also politically active. Above all, he promoted the training and promotion of Estonian art and was one of the founders of the

Estonian National Museum The Estonian National Museum ( et, Eesti Rahva Muuseum) founded 1909 in Tartu is a museum devoted to folklorist Jakob Hurt's heritage, to Estonian ethnography and folk art. The first items for the museum were originally collected in the latter ...

(Eesti Rahva Muuseum) in Tartu.

Best-known works

*''Self Portrait'' (1902) *''Lääne neiu'' (1903; 'Maiden from Lääne County') *''Portrait of

'' (1904) *''Vigala taat'' (1904; 'Old man from Vigala') *''Portrait of

August Kitzberg August Kitzberg ( in Laatre Parish, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire – 10 October 1927 in Tartu) was an Estonian writer. Life Until 1863, August Kitzberg was known as August Kits. He grew up in Niitsaadu farmstead in Penuja village, A ...

'' (1915)

Gallery

Daami portree (Tutti Schlaff), Ants Laikmaa, EKM j 153-464 M 255.jpg, ''Portrait of a Lady (Tutti Schlaff)'' (1902) Laikmaa marie under1.jpg, ''Portrait of

'' (1904) Vana Aitsam, Ants Laikmaa, TKM TR 186 A 15.jpg, ''Old Aitsam'' (1904) Paul Pinna portree, Ants Laikmaa, EKM j 6780 M 3163.jpg, ''Portrait of

Paul Pinna Paul Pinna (3 October 1884 Tallinn – 29 March 1949 Tallinn) was an Estonian actor and stage director. Since 1899 he started stage activity at the "Estonia" theatre society. 1900s he was related to establish professional Estonia Theatre E ...

'' (1906) Eug. Schäferi portree, Ants Laikmaa, EKM j 153-73 M 64.jpg, ''Portrait of Eugen Schäfer'' (1906) Vallinkoski, Ants Laikmaa, EKM j 3602 M 2412.jpg, ''Vallinkoski'' (1908) ANTS LAIKMAA 1910 Capri maastik.jpg, ''Capri Landscape'' (1910) Maal. Ants Laikmaa. Etna. Past, Ants Laikmaa, HM LMT 249 K.jpg, ''Etna'' (1910) ANTS LAIKMAA 1910 Öine motiiv Caprilt.jpg, ''Night Motif from Capri'' (1910) Neegripoiss. Neegripoisi pea, Ants Laikmaa, EKM j 48643 M 7113.jpg, ''Negro boy'' (1910–1912) Laikmaa itaalia poisike1.jpg, ''Italian boy'' (1911) ANTS LAIKMAA 1911–1912 Vaade Caprilt.jpg, ''View from Capri'' (1911–1912) Ants Laikmaa-Vana talu.jpg, ''Old farm'' (1913) Läänemaa talu, Ants Laikmaa, EKM j 4953 M 2794.jpg, ''Läänemaa farm'' (1918) Laikmaa jakobson1.jpg, ''Portrait of

Carl Robert Jakobson Carl Robert Jakobson ( – ) was an Estonian writer, politician and teacher active in the Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire. He was one of the most important persons of the Estonian national awakening in the second half of the 19th century ...

'' (1920) ANTS LAIKMAA 1922 Selma.jpg, ''Selma'' (1922) Laikmaa koidula1.jpg, ''Portrait of

Lydia Koidula Lydia Emilie Florentine Jannsen, ( – ), known by her pen name Lydia Koidula, was an Estonian poet. Her sobriquet means 'Lydia of the Dawn' in Estonian. It was given to her by the writer Carl Robert Jakobson. She is also frequently referred to ...

'' (1924) ANTS LAIKMAA 1924 Kaugelt näen kodu kasvamas.jpg, ''Portrait of Fr.R. Kreutzwald'' (1924) ANTS LAIKMAA 1936 Taebla maastik.jpg, ''

Landscape'' (1936) Naiseportree. Linda Eenpalu, Ants Laikmaa, EKM j 2599 M 2146.jpg, ''Portrait of

Linda Eenpalu Linda Marie Eenpalu (born Linda Marie Koplus, until 1935 named Einbund; 20 September 1890 – 4 June 1967) was an Estonian politician. She was a member of the National Constituent Assembly (1937) and a Member of the Second Chamber of the Nationa ...

'' (1938)

References

External links

Ants Laikmaa house-museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laikmaa, Ants 1866 births 1942 deaths People from Märjamaa Parish People from Kreis Wiek 19th-century Estonian painters 19th-century Estonian male artists 20th-century Estonian painters 20th-century Estonian male artists Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni