Balder Tomasberg (1897,

Paldiski Paldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the Pakri Peninsula of northwestern Estonia. Since 2017, it's the administrative centre of Lääne-Harju Parish of Harju County. Previously a village of Estonia-Swedes known by the historical ...

– 1919, near Saint Petersburg) was an Estonian artist. Tomasberg was born in Paldiski and moved to Tallinn in 1913. He initially worked as a

draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...

at a construction company and studied art in evening classes given by the , with Nikolai Triik as his teacher. In 1915, he ended his art studies, and in early 1916 participated in an exhibition arranged by the Estonian Art Society. He was subsequently drafted into the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

and sent to

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

to work as a decorator of stage sets for soldier theatres. He returned to Estonia in 1917 and together with his friend, sculptor Roman Haavamägi, a circle of artists called , which gathered several students of Ants Laikmaa, including

Aleksander Mülber Aleksander Mülber (29 December 1897, Tallinn – 19 May 1931, Paris) was an Estonian painter and printmaker. Biography Aleksander Mülber began studying art in 1912, switching from a school of commerce where he had originally enrolled. He studie ...

and

Välko Tuul Välko Tuul (born Alfred-Oscar Tuul, 1894, Tallinn – 1918, Tallinn) was an Estonian painter. Biography Välko Tuul was born in the present-day capital of Estonia, Tallinn, and started studying art in his free time. In 1913 he joined the art sch ...

. The works of the group were exhibited together in the autumn of 1918, and Tomasberg contributed with several works with themes from the island of

Pakri Islands , image_name = , image_caption = , image_size = , map_image = Pakri location map.svg , map_caption = , native_name = Pakri saared , native_name_link = , sobriquet = , location = Baltic Sea , ...

, where the group had lived as an art colony. Later that year he volunteered to fight in the Estonian War of Independence and was mortally wounded in the fighting three months later. His work consists of paintings made in

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

s and watercolour, as well as

graphic arts A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface.

. The subject matter consists mostly of dream-like or fantastic landscapes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomasberg, Balder 1897 births 1919 deaths People from Paldiski People from the Governorate of Estonia 20th-century Estonian painters 20th-century Estonian male artists 20th-century Estonian artists Russian military personnel of World War I Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence Estonian Academy of Arts alumni Estonian military personnel killed in action