Alice Kask

1976– · Estonian painter (born 1976)
Allee galerii; Artrovert; Eesti Kunsti Oksjonid; Eesti Kunstiakadeemia muuseum; Eesti Kunstimuuseum; Haus Galerii

Alice Kask (1976) is a painter whose work is often associated with new figurative painting. Kask's paintings are characterised by a sketch-like quality and taking the quotidian into a territory where it becomes detached from reality. At first glance, the paintings seem to solely centre on the figure and human body, however, a focus on space and environment is nevertheless always there – through shadows, black holes, images rising out of emptiness, and juxtaposition of planes and spaces. The power of her pieces relies in the inseparability of the work and the physical object, the image's contact with the underlying surface or detachment from it. In the interaction between absolute generalisation and anatomical detail, Kask's approach to human becomes agonising, yet powerful, forging a monumentality that consists of an equal part of existential angst. Kask's world is schematic, the fine modelled figure is in contrast with the background that refuses to give any details on the scene, the image seemingly only existing in a vacuum of its own making. Her grey paper beings and male figures act as if guided by an unseen force. Kask has always depicted her figures as anonymous basic forms, dressed in various garments carrying the spirit of the era. In 2005, the works exhibited at Hobusepea Gallery depicted suits, in the 2015 exhibition at Tallinn City Gallery, however, these were replaced by T-shirt, tracksuit and trainers. With the exhibition “Murdosa” (Fraction, 2011) alongside her interest in relations between objects, figures and space, the artist added another element, time, to her work – capturing the moment, the fraction of a second and presenting it on a static two-dimensional surface. At the show “Alice, Neeme & Jass” (2018) in Kunsthalle Helsinki, the audience was greeted by Kask's large-scale painting “Kekkoneni käsi” (Kekkonen's Hand), a sketch of a human silhouette with the right hand waving hello. The hand as an archetypal tool for making a mark has occurred in Kask's work before, referencing ways of perceiving the human body and environment and the shifts between the two.

9 auction lots · 4 sold · 2004–2025 · €1,300 – €52,000 — as the auction houses published them; not a valuation

Coming up at auction: 31.10.2026 Eesti Kunsti Oksjonid: Nimetu, starting price €17,000 · 13.11.2026 Allee galerii: Nimeta, starting price €19,500 — all coming sales

For sale now

1 work at Artrovert, €18,000. Prices as the galleries state them.

Crown
€18,000 · Artrovert ↗

See it in Buy Art →

Follow new works for sale (RSS)

Browse 42 works in the catalogue →

Artwall

Crown
2018 · ArtrovertUntitled
2023 · shown at Temnikova & Kasela

8 works with a picture; the first 2 here, all in the catalogue. Pictures for public-domain works, live gallery listings and the works galleries and artists show on their own pages, from those servers.

Similar artists — same period, media and subjects: Priit Pajos · Mall Nukke · Markus Kasemaa · Laurentsius · August Künnapu · Meiu Münt

Contemporaries in Eesti Kunstimuuseum: Arne Maasik · Fiona Sheppard · Ojars Feldbergs · Inta Ruka · Chto delat/What is to be done?

By decade: 1990s · 2000s · 2010s · 2020s
By medium: Painting · Drawing · Mixed media · Other
Where the works are: Art Museum of Estonia · Tartu Art Museum · Estonian Academy of Arts Museum

← Alice Jänes · All artists A–Z · Alice Kent Stoddard →

Museum records from MuIS and the EKM Digital Collection; gallery stock from the galleries' own catalogues; auction results as Haus Galerii, Vernissage, Allee galerii, Vaal galerii, E-Kunstisalong, Eesti Kunsti Oksjonid and Kunstikoda published them, and the lots Osta Noort Kunsti offered (it publishes no results). Full catalogue · Corrections, removals, questions: info@museaal.ee · Privacy