Jaan Elken

Jaan Elken (b.1954) career started out with hyper-realistic paintings in the late 1970s, but he found later his own expression in abstract art and is today one of the most prominent representatives of abstract painting in Estonian art. Elken is also known for being an art critic, curator, and art teacher and he has published more than 200 articles on art and arts policy. Elken has held more than 60 personal exhibitions in museums and galleries in Estonia, Germany, Finland, Sweden and Latvia. His paintings are included in the collections of the Art Museum of Estonia, Tartu Art Museum, Tallinn Art Hall, Viinistu Art Museum, Tretyakov Gallery, Norton Dodge Collection / Zimmerli Art Museum, European Parliament, CAM - Casoria Contemporary Art Museum to name a new. Elken worked as the head of Estonian Painters' Union between 1995 and 1999 and the president of Estonian Artists' Association between the years 1999 to 2013. Since 1997 he has had the position as a professor of the Chair of Painting at The Institute of Cultural Studies and Fine arts at the University of Tartu.

The painting 'Vabarna 10' occupies a special position in the artist's oeuvre. It deals with the deportation of the Elken family to Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, where Jaan Elken was born, and the painful loss of family members.