Konstantin Süvalo (1884–1964)

Konstantin Süvalo (Štšerbakoff until 1936) searched for his style for quite a long time and it did not develop until the 1920’s. He began his studies in art in Riga relatively late in life at the age of 25, and he did not succeed in enrolling in the Academy of Art in St. Petersburg because of the First World War. Instead, he began his lengthy career as a schoolteacher in Pärnu in 1914. Little is known of Süvalo’s early work yet the years 1915-1929 are considered the period when he searched for his style: cubist and neo-impressionist works of his are known, his colouring changes almost from painting to painting, his moods are somewhere between lyrical, expressive and anxious. His main genre had nevertheless evolved quickly and it was landscapes, even though alongside landscapes he also painted flower pieces, figurative paintings, portraits, and other genres.