Villu Toots (August 24, 1916 – April 10, 1993) was an internationally known

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

calligrapher Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

book designer Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, Word processor, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book ...

, educator,

palaeographer Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

and author.

Biography

Early life

Villu Toots was born on August 24, 1916 in

Reval 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 ''m ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now

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 ' ...

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 ...

). He was the first child of Karl Johannes and Amalie Toots (''née'' Jaas). The family was originally from

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 ...

and moved back home, when Toots was one and a half years old. His father was a

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

and his mother was a housewife, but earned money as a

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Nota ...

. Toots started school at Tartu Commercial School. Luckily for him, the curriculum also included

penmanship Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. Today, this is most commonly done with a pen, or pencil, but throughout history has included many different implements. The various generic and formal histor ...

. There Toots gained his first knowledge about formal and casual

scripts Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

from artist Eduard Ahas. He also got advice from Hando Mugasto, who was an artist from the prestigious

Pallas Art School Pallas University of Applied Sciences ( et, Kõrgem Kunstikool Pallas) is a university of applied sciences that provides art education in Tartu, Estonia. It was founded on 1 August 2000. The university is situated in Karlova. The rector is Va ...

. By his senior year in 1934 Toots had started making posters for the school and for others.RR Ia, f 5, n 1, s 305, l 1–10

Career beginnings

Right after high school the professional career of Villu Toots had begun. He started as an artist for local cinemas in

. He managed to work for five different establishments: Capitol, Heli, Apollo, Central and Metropol. With the help of his personal assistant he created posters, newspaper ads and visuals for intermissions. Simultaneously he was doing designs for other companies, exhibitions and display windows. He spent the hard-earned money on field trips to European art centers at the time: France, Austria, Hungary, Germany and Poland. Toots'

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or v ...

was located in cinema Apollo, that was close to

. Joining the academy had been a dream of his until September 1937, when he started his studies there.

Studies in Pallas

Toots had a unique opportunity to study with and from some of the greats of Estonian fine art. He practiced

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...

under the guidance of Arkadio Laigo and Roman Vaher. R. Vaher had studied in

Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig The Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (HGB) or Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig is one of the oldest art schools in Germany, dating back to 1764. The school has four colleges specializing in fine arts, graphic design, photography and new media a ...

. He established a close connection with Toots, as he was also interested in calligraphy. Toots' teachers also included Aleksander Vardi and Kaarel Liimand. Toots left

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

before graduating in 1939.

Moving to Tallinn

During the last year of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1945 Villu Toots moved to

to focus more on

book design Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book design, "though ...

. The best printing house in Tartu had been destroyed by the war, therefore publishing had been moved to the capital. For seven years Toots worked as an art director in two publishing houses.RR Ia, f 5, n 1, s 3, l 1–5 There he learned more about different printing methods and book architecture, but also about the restrictions of the soviet regime. For two years he was the leading designer of ''Eesti Naine'' (Estonian Woman) magazine. From 1952 until his death, Toots worked as a freelance artist. The only exception was in 1965–1966, when he worked as an art director in the National Committee of Cinematography.

Calligraphy School

Since 1946 Villu Toots had been teaching

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

in different seminars.Toots 1981: 5–6 Calligraphy had suddenly become more popular and there was a need for a thorough form of study. Also the Tallinn State Applied Art Institute of the ESSR could not fulfil the demand for artistic writing. In 1965 Toots established a calligraphy school named ''Kirjakunsti Kool'' with a three-year course. Students came from all over Estonia and applications were sent from far ends of the Soviet Union. Toots was the initiator, the head and only teacher in the one-man school. Studies took place in the evenings. In 1986 Toots gave his position to Heino Kivihall – one of his best students. As of 2015 Heino Kivihall is still teaching calligraphy in the same institution also in the Tallinn School of Calligraphy. Other well-known students of ''Kirjakunsti Kool'' also include Villu Järmut, Ilmar Vallikivi, Henno Käo, Emil Lausmäe, Rein Maantoa, Arvo Pärenson, Ain Kaasik and many others.

Publications

One of his greatest contributions to the Estonian culture are his books on calligraphy and type design, that also give insight to the history of writing, different scripts and typefaces. His book "''Tänapäeva kiri''" (1956) was adapted and remade for Latvian readers as "''300 burtu veidi. 300 шрифтов''" (1960) and for Russians as "''Cовременный шрифт''" (1966). He has also published collections of his best calligraphy works. American calligraphy magazine Scribe dedicated their issue of winter 1978 and spring 1979 to the works of Villu Toots. Books *"''Õpime plakatkirja. Algteadmisi kirjakunstist''" (Tallinn 1949) *"''Tänapäeva kiri''" (Tallinn 1956) *"''300 burtu veidi. 300 шрифтов''" (Riga 1960) *"''Cовременный шрифт''" (Moscow 1966) *"''Kirjakunsti abc. Laisulekirjad''" (Tallinn 1968) *"''Kirjakunsti abc. Grotesk ehk plokk-kiri''" (Tallinn 1972) *"''Eesti kirjakunst 1940–1970''" (Tallinn 1973) *"''Kiri kui kunst''" (Tallinn 1981) *"''Kiri Eesti kultuuriloos''" (compiled by Rein Loodus; Tallinn 2002) Collections of calligraphical works *"''Kalligraafilisi etüüde.'' Calligraphical studies." (Tallinn 1976) *"''50 eksliibrist''" (Tallinn 1979) *"''Sule ja pintsli duett''" (Tallinn 1985) *"''Paraaf''" (Tallinn 1987) *"Calligraphical spirals" (Gothenburg; Tampere 1989) *"Calligraphic Bookplates and Monograms" (San Juan Capistrano, CA 1992)

Distant acquaintances

Despite living behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

Villu Toots was able to keep in touch with notable people all over the world. He had connections in almost 30 different countries, including Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Iceland and Japan. First distant acquaintances were colleagues from Moscow: Solomon Telingater, Vadim Lazurski, Pavel Kuzanyan and Maxim Shukow. Contacting outside of the Soviet Union started in 1954 with a calligrapher from

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, Jef Boudens, who was seeking help for writing books. German

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

Albert Kapr turned to Toots with a similar request. Through Kapr Toots became friends with

Hermann Zapf Hermann Zapf (; 8 November 1918 – 4 June 2015) was a German type designer and calligrapher who lived in Darmstadt, Germany. He was married to the calligrapher and typeface designer Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse. Typefaces he designed include Pa ...

, one of the leading typographers in the world. Villu Toots also kept friendly ties with Donald Jackson, official

scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

and

to the Crown Office of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Personal

Villu Toots married Ann Leesalu on January 18, 1941. They have a daughter Tiiu Sarv. In 1991 the couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Villu Toots died on April 10, 1993. He is buried at Tallinn's

Metsakalmistu Metsakalmistu (meaning ''Forest Cemetery'') is a cemetery in the Pirita district of Tallinn. Metsakalmistu was originally planned to be a public medieval cemetery. Eduard Vilde was the first to be buried in 1933. The original area of the cemete ...

cemetery.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * NLIB Pa 3. Villu Toots 1979. ''Biographical and service documents'', 1–5. * NLIB Pa 305. Villu Toots. ''Biographical and service documents'', 1–10. * * Vello, Mikk (Interviewer) 1986. ''Keskööprogramm. Kirjakunstnik Villu Toots – 70''. adio recordingTallinn: Eesti Raadio.

External links

Art of Villu Toots
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toots, Villu 1916 births 1993 deaths 20th-century calligraphers 20th-century Estonian male artists Artists from Tallinn Burials at Metsakalmistu Calligraphers Estonian illustrators People from the Governorate of Estonia People from Tallinn