Artist criticises sale of union works to private buyers

The Estonian Artists’ Union will hold an auction in October to help cover losses caused by fraud, ERR’s Aktuaalne kaamera reported. Painter Jaan Elken criticised the sale of works from the union’s collection to unknown buyers, saying they should remain in a public collection.

Most of the collection comes from the high-quality art collection of the Tallinn Art Hall Foundation, which was transferred to the union nearly 10 years ago during the reform of the Tallinn Art Hall. The works were mainly acquired from well-known Estonian artists who exhibited at spring and autumn exhibitions.

“The selection was based, of course, on the current situation in the art market and, on the other hand, on what would remain in the collection,” EKL Deputy President Tüüne-Kristin Vaikla told Aktuaalne kaamera. She said curators and art experts had helped make the decisions.

The starting prices have been kept attractive, beginning at a few hundred euros. Among the works with the highest starting prices are Jüri Arrak’s well-known painting “Discussion on the Environment”, at 25,000 euros; Olev Subbi’s “Noon”, at 40,000 euros; and paintings by Tiit Pääsuke, starting at 35,000 euros.

The artists’ union has previously sold works from its collection, including to fund the renovation of premises at the ARS art complex. Not all artists support selling significant works to unknown buyers.

“The art fund’s collection consisted of works by independent artists, or artists who kept their backs straight. The Ministry of Culture bought more of the state-loyal kind of work. That is actually sad for me. These works must belong in a public collection, not behind someone’s cabinet. It is not decorative art; it is something else,” Elken said.