Paul Liivak (1900–1942)

Paul Liivak is known first and foremost as the author of drawings made using India ink and of woodcuts. Additionally, he has painted a few watercolours. Only two oil paintings are hitherto known of in public collections: one at Tallinn’s City Museum (a cityscape) and the other in this collection.

Liivak was from Järva County. He studied art in Tallinn and later in Tartu at the Pallas Art School. All manner of depictions associated with nature are among his favourite motifs: landscapes, coastal scenes, and more visionary works where instead of copying reality, decorative textures and a distinctive stylisation come to the fore.