Exhibition of Estonian Art in Rome

29 January marked the official opening in the Vittoriano museum complex in Rome of an exhibition entitled “I colori del nord. L’arte estone tra il 1910 ed il 1945” dalla collezione di Enn Kunila / “Nordic Colours. Estonian art 1910-1945” from Enn Kunila’s collection.

The exhibition in the Italian capital represented Estonia’s participation in EXPO 2015 in Milan.

The Estonian ambassador to Italy Mrs Celia Kuningas-Saagpakk opened the exhibition. On the Italian side, the president of the company managing the Vittoriano museum complex Alessandro Nicosia and Rome productivity councillor Mrs Marta Leonori said a few words, while on the Estonian side Ministry of Culture secretary general Paavo Nõgene, exhibition curator Eero Epner and art collector Enn Kunila did likewise.

The opening of the exhibition was preceded by a press conference at which Epner, Kunila, Ambassador Kuningas-Saagpakk, Estonian Art Museum director Sirje Helme and Italian art critic and writer Arnaldo Colasanti spoke to the Italian and Estonian journalists and guests about the exhibition and the history of Estonian art.

The opening was followed by a reception hosted by Ambassador Kuningas-Saagpakk.

The exhibition comprised of 45 works by 19 artists, focusing on paintings painted by local artists at home and abroad – primarily in Italy. The featured artists included Konrad Mägi, Ants Laikmaa and Nikolai Triik, among others. It was a great pleasure to see the works of Laikmaa and Mägi once again on Italian soil after an interregnum of 90 years.

The works of Konrad Mägi came in for particular attention. Arnaldo Colasanti said that Mägi’s place was in the art history of Europe as a whole, adding that whenever he painted – even when he ventured out into the world: Rome, Capri or Venice – he always found his own lines, his own unique style and technique, which made well-known painting styles new and original again.

The curator of the exhibition was art scientist Eero Epner and the Designer was artist Tõnis Saadoja. The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue in Italian and English.

The exhibition stayed open until 12 February and a total of 8000 art lovers visited the exhibition.