Edgar Viies

1931–2006 · Estonian sculptor (1920-2006)
Allee galerii; E-Kunstisalong; Eesti Kunsti Oksjonid; Eesti Kunstimuuseum; Haus Galerii; Tartu Kunstimuuseum

trained at Estonian Academy of Arts · trained at Imperial Academy of Arts

Edgar Viies (1931–2006) is one of the most important Estonian sculptors of the 20th century. His innovative formal searches and modern choice of materials (aluminium, clinker, welded iron, sheet metal and concrete) marked the beginning of the modern era in Estonian sculpture in the 1960s. His work brought, for the first time in the post-war years, a stylistically pure abstract formal culture into Estonian sculpture. He appeared with modernly generalised portrait work in exhibition halls already at the end of the 1950s, attracting attention with his unusually pure silhouette effect and having an inspiring influence. Quite a few of his works from the 1960s–1980s have become classics of Estonian art. Besides the aesthetic problematics that were important to Viies especially in the first half of his career, his works' experiential quality and connection to universal human spiritual and emotional life should also be considered valuable. He brought creative experimentation into the relatively conservative and rather dull sculpture of the early 1960s, directing sculptors' attention to the connections between space, form and material. It can be said that it was precisely Edgar Viies who gave impetus to decorative sculpture, which at the time existed in a state of suspended animation. His numerous free works belong to the golden fund of Estonian modernism. Viies's public sculptures in Tallinn, Tartu and Viljandi remain captivating to this day. The best known of these are the monuments to Johann Köler (1976), Jaan Koort (1983) and Friedebert Tuglas (1986), the "Merineid" ("Mermaid") (1981) adorning Viru Square, and the upward-soaring "Pegasus" (1963) in the café on Harju Street in Tallinn, which was, for several generations, the first modernist interior sculpture familiar to them in Estonia. Edgar Viies studied at the ESSR State Art Institute in 1951–1952, entered the Ilya Repin Institute of the Leningrad Academy of Arts in 1952 and graduated from it in 1958. That same year he also began exhibiting at exhibitions in Estonia. He was a freelance artist his whole life. (machine translation of the holder's Estonian text, unedited)

18 auction lots · 15 sold · 2013–2025 · €700 – €7,250 — as the auction houses published them; not a valuation

For sale now

2 works at Allee galerii, E-Kunstisalong, €1,900–€3,600. Prices as the galleries state them.

Vilepuhuja
€1,900 · E-Kunstisalong ↗Dodekafooniline
€3,600 · Allee galerii ↗

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Dodekafooniline
1990 · Allee galeriiVilepuhuja
E-Kunstisalong

2 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: Juta Eskel · Ellen Kolk · Matti Varik · Ülo Õun · Aime Kuulbusch · Hille Palm

Also trained at Imperial Academy of Arts: Otto Friedrich Theodor von Moeller · Paul Burman · Johann Köler · Edmond Arnold Blumenfeldt · August Daugell

Also trained at Estonian Academy of Arts: Eduard Wiiralt · Evald Okas · Andrus Johani · Johann Naha · Leonhard Lapin

Contemporaries in Eesti Kunstimuuseum: Peeter Ulas · Eino Vesalainen · Valeri Smirnov · R. Jürgens · Maie Mõtte

By decade: 1950s · 1960s · 1970s · 1980s · 1990s · 2000s
By medium: Sculpture · Drawing · Print · Other
Where the works are: Art Museum of Estonia · Tartu Art Museum

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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