Portrait of a young woman
Signed A Vihalemm and dated -46. Panel 65 x 55 cm.
The auction's artwork "Portrait of a Young Woman" was created by Arno Vihalemm in 1946, in connection with the great Baltic theme exhibition at Liljevalchs konsthall in Stockholm. At the same time, Värmlands Museum acquired the oil painting "Self-Portrait". Arno Vihalemm's art is sold internationally today. Vihalemm is considered one of the most significant figures in Estonian exile art and literature. His international successes are strongly linked to his role as a "cultural bridge builder" for Estonian refugees. In his homeland, he is today considered one of the great modernists in Estonian art during the 20th century. After the fall of the Soviet Union, his importance has been highlighted again through retrospective exhibitions, which has cemented his position as a significant artist in European 20th-century history.
In addition to his visual arts, Vihalemm was a recognized poet in Estonian exile literature. He published several collections of poetry in which he often combined his poetry with his own illustrations. His writing is characterized by a mixture of humor, irony and a certain bohemian outlook on life.
Vihalemm undertook longer study trips to, among others, Germany, Spain, France and Switzerland, where he pursued Paul Klee studies.
In Estonia, he is primarily known as a poet, but for the Swedish audience it is his painting and graphics that have been noticed.
Vihalemm is represented at Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Värmlands Museum in Karlstad, Eskilstuna Konstmuseum, Ystads Konstmuseum, Cincinnati Museum of Art, Ohio and New York Public Library USA.
Vihalemm exhibited separately in, among others, Malmö and several times in Ystad. Together with the Estonian-American artist Agaate Veeber (1901-1988), he exhibited at the Estonian House in New York and also participated in several group exhibitions in Munich, Nuremberg, Helsinki and Wuppertal, among others. Vihalemm showed his art in the theme exhibition at Liljevalchs konsthall in 1946, the Charlottenborg exhibition in Copenhagen in 1950 and at the Public Library and Riverside Museum in New York.
His public art include the larger intarsia installation "Seglatsen genom livet" at the Ystad retirement home in 1966.
His art consists of early landscape depictions that later developed towards a painting with dynamic color visions and experimentation with mixed media. As an illustrator, he illustrated Aleksis Rannit's books Kaljud and Meri and Jaan Ok's "Collected Writings" in 1957.
Arnold (Arno) Vihalemm, (originally named Arnold Koch), was born on May 24, 1911 in Pärnu, died on June 21, 1990. In 1936, he adopted the surname Vihalemm, which is also spelled Wihalemm. Arno Vihalemm was born as the son of customs officer Mango Koch and Anna Blumenfeldt in Pärnu and was married for the first time in 1937 to Elsa Paas (sister of the artist Otto Paas) and for the second time from 1953 to dental technician Katarina Johansson.
Arno Vihalemm studied art with Nikolai Triik, Kaarel Liimand and Aleksander Vardi, at the Pallas Art School in Tartu, Estonia 1935–1940 and 1943. He moved to Sweden in 1944 and was employed at the ceramics factory in Ystad. He became a Swedish citizen in 1952.
Arno Vihalemm was awarded the Ystad Municipality Cultural Prize in 1967.
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