Kuno Veeber (18 February 1898 – 1 January 1929) 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 and graphic artist whose career began in the late 1910s.

Early life

Kuno Veeber was born Kuno Bernard Weber at Adila manor, Hageri Parish (now part of

Kohila Parish Kohila Parish ( et, Kohila vald) is the northernmost municipality of Rapla County, Estonia. It has a population of 5,925 (as of 1 January 2009) and an area of . Settlements ;Borough: Kohila ;Small boroughs: Aespa - Hageri - Prillimäe ;Villa ...

) to Konstantin Villibald Weber and Bertha Louise Weber (née Gildemann). He was the second eldest of five sons. The family later Estonianized the surname from 'Weber' to the more Estonian 'Veeber'. Kuno Veeber began his artistic studies at the Ants Laikmaa Studio School in

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 ' ...

in 1916. After graduating from Tallinn Nikolai I Gymnasium in 1917, he briefly went on to study medical science at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

. From 1919 until 1920, during the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westwa ...

, Veeber served as a cyclist in the

Estonian Army The Estonian Land Forces ( et, Maavägi), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. It is currently the largest ...

. Following the war, he worked as a laborer on the construction of the new Estonian Parliament building (

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Jus ...

) on

Toompea Toompea (from german: Domberg, "Cathedral Hill") is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of and is about 20–30 ...

Hill in Tallinn.

Further studies and travel abroad

After studying with

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

, Veeber studied with graphic artist

Nikolai Triik Nikolai Voldemar Triik (7 August 1884, Tallinn – 12 August 1940, Tallinn) was an Estonian Modern art, Modernist painter, graphic artist, printmaker and professor. His work displays elements of Symbolism (art), Symbolism and Expressionism. Bio ...

and sculptor

Jaan Koort Jaan Koort (6 November 1883, Sootaga Parish (Äksi), Tartu – 14 October 1935 in Moscow) was an Estonian sculptor, painter and ceramicist. Born on 6 November in Tartu, he was the thirteenth child of village farmers Susanna-Marie and Jaan Koo ...

. His earlier works show clear signs of Constructivist and

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

influences. In 1922, he entered the Higher Art School Pallas 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 ...

, studying painting at artist

Konrad Mägi Konrad Vilhelm Mägi (1 November 1878 – 15 August 1925) was an Estonian painter, primarily known for his landscape work. He was one of the most colour-sensitive Estonian painters of the first decades of the 20th century, and Mägi's works on ...

's painting studio and graphic art techniques with German Expressionist painter and graphic artist Magnus Zeller. In 1923, he traveled with Zeller to Germany, where Veeber became more acquainted with

German Expressionism German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

. In spite of poor health, Veeber graduated from the Higher Art School Pallas in 1924. In October of the same year, Veeber went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and remained there until 1926. In France, he became part of the

School of Paris The School of Paris (french: École de Paris) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importance ...

, and studied under painter

André Lhote André Lhote (5 July 1885 – 24 January 1962) was a French Cubist painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life. He was also active and influential as a teacher and writer on art. Early life and education Lhote was born ...

and the Greek artist

Demetrios Galanis Demetrios Galanis ( el, Δημήτριος Γαλάνης, 17 May 1879, Athens – 20 March 1966, Paris) was an early twentieth-century Greece, Greek artist and friend of Picasso. In 1920, the year he completed his ''Seated Nude'' (private coll ...

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

and explored old graphic techniques in the exhibition halls of the

National Library of France National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. Veeber's art of the period was marked by a struggle for clear form and harmonious balanced image structure and he became a strong admirer of

Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...

. In 1927, Veeber traveled to Italy with his wife Agaate with a grant from the Estonian Cultural Endowment Fine Arts Foundation to copy works by the

Old Master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

s. In

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, he visited the Sala di Anticollegio at the

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...

and copied

Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...

's ''Mercury and the Three Graces'', which is approximately one-fifth smaller than the original. The copy was exhibited in Estonia in the autumn of 1927 and is currently in the collection of the

Tartu Art Museum Tartu Art Museum ( Estonian: ''Tartu Kunstimuuseum'') is a state-owned museum of art located in Tartu, Estonia. It was founded in 1940 on a private initiative by the members of local art school Pallas. This is the largest art museum in Southern ...

. During his life, Veeber's works were exhibited outside of Estonia by the

Société des Artistes Indépendants The Société des Artistes Indépendants (''Society of Independent Artists'') or Salon des Indépendants was formed in Paris on 29 July 1884. The association began with the organization of massive exhibitions in Paris, choosing the slogan "''sans ...

in Paris, and at exhibitions in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Death

After returning to Tallinn, Veeber committed suicide on 1 January 1929 at age thirty. He was buried at

Rahumäe cemetery Rahumäe ( Estonian for ''"Peace Hill"'' or ''"Quiet Hill"'') is a subdistrict ( et, asum) in the district of Nõmme, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It covers an area of and has a population of 3,075 (), population density is . Rahumäe has a ...

in the

Nõmme Nõmme ( Estonian for ''"Heath"'') is one of the 8 administrative districts ( et, linnaosa) of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 39,422 () and covers an area of , population density is . The district is largely a middle-cla ...

district of Tallinn. His granite headstone was created by Veeber's former instructor, sculptor Jaan Koort.

Personal life

Kuno Veeber was married to Estonian graphic artist

Agaate Veeber Agaate Veeber (also known as Agathe Veeber, born Agaate Wilhelmine Kanto; 23 February 1901 – 8 April 1988) was an Estonian graphic artist and illustrator who began her career in the 1920s in her native country of Estonia and continued in the Un ...

(''née'' Kanto) in 1926. Agaate later found a measure of success in Estonia after her husband's death, as well as in the United States after immigrating to New York in the 1940s and adopting the name Agathe Veeber.

Legacy

Since Veeber's death, his work has been exhibited throughout Estonia and works by Veeber are in a number of Estonian art museum collections, including the Kumu in Tallinn.Postimees
''Avasta. Eesti kunsti hävimis- ja kadumislood (X)'' 25 May 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2018.

Gallery

References

External links

*Kuno Veeber at th
Art Museum of Estonia Digital Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veeber, Kuno 1898 births 1929 deaths People from Kohila Parish People from Kreis Harrien 20th-century Estonian painters 20th-century Estonian male artists Expressionist painters Modern painters Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence Suicides in Estonia 1929 suicides Painters who committed suicide Burials at Rahumäe Cemetery