Jaan Toomik

1961– · Estonian artist (born 1961)
Allee galerii; Artrovert; E-Kunstisalong; Eesti Kunsti Oksjonid; Eesti Kunstiakadeemia muuseum; Eesti Kunstimuuseum

trained at Estonian Academy of Arts

Jaan Toomik (1961) is a painter, video installation and performance artist, whose work stems from a metaphysical, biocentric and shamanist outlook on the world. His work, mostly nature-poetic and autobiographical, focuses on eternal themes like life and death, religion and spirituality, that tie the human body to the cyclical processes in nature. In his imagery Toomik is a minimalist, often choosing simple tools to achieve meditative repetition and dynamics. Toomik started out as a painter at the end of the 1980s. His early works include the large-scale Neo-Expressionist paintings “Menstruatsioon” (Menstruation, 1989) and “Tantsija” (Dancer,1990). Influenced by the political situation in newly-independent Estonia at the beginning of the 1990s, Toomik found site-specific performance and installation. During his transition into a post-conceptual artist, Toomik created boundary-probing work commenting on the attitudes and political situation of the time. One of the most symbolic among them is the installation “15. mai – 1. juuni 1992” (15 May – 1 June 1992), exhibited at the pavilion of Eesti Näitused at “Artmix”, the second exhibition by the art collective S&K. The work consisted of glass jars that contained the artist's excrement, collected between the above mentioned dates, and a description of his menu. By now, the afterlife of this work and the meanings surrounding it, have become a notable episode in recent Estonian art history. At the time when the piece was exhibited, the installation did not cause a scandal, however it became controversial in 1995 when the newspaper Eesti Ekspress wrote about it. “Shitting in a jar” became a metaphor for Toomik's artistic practice in the media, and Estonian contemporary art as a whole for everything that seemed even a little incomprehensible or disturbing. The work was recreated in 2012 for the exhibition “MÖH? FUI! ÖÄK! OSSA! VAU! The Classics of Estonian Contemporary Art”. Finding a language in his installation and performance art, that was simultaneously minimal and impersonal in form but suggestive in content, Toomik was among the first artists in Estonia to document their performances in video. His natural-poetic videos were masterfully created, using simple means to convey a mental space, captivating to the audience. In 1994 Toomik created a video installation for the São Paulo Biennial, titled “Teekond São Paulosse” (Way to São Paulo), consisting of a mirror cube, floating on rivers in Tartu, Prague and São Paulo; cities located on the same geographical parallel. This was followed by the video “Tantsides k.

26 auction lots · 21 sold · 2004–2026 · €268 – €19,700 — as the auction houses published them; not a valuation

Coming up at auction: 30.10.2026 Vaal galerii: Külvieelne mana, starting price €350 — all coming sales

For sale now

2 works at Artrovert, Haus Galerii, €10,000–€12,000. Prices as the galleries state them.

Bells. 1995 - 1997
€10,000 · Haus Galerii ↗Fight of the Titans
€12,000 · Artrovert ↗

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Browse 89 works in the catalogue →

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Family
2014 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaFamily Tree
2014 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaAct I
2015 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaBalance I
2015 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaSelf portrait with cut off penis. Homage to Van Goh
2015 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaSmells Like Old Men's Spirit
2015 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaBalance II
2015 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaFight of the Titans
2021 · ArtrovertThe Man with a Gun and a Burning Shadow / Mees püssi ja põleva varjuga
2023 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaForest Turn / Metsa pööre
2023 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaForest Brothers / Metsavennad
2023 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaInvitation for a Dance / Kutse tantsule
2023 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaLumberjack / Puulõhkuja
2023 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaGardener / Aednik
2023 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaPrayer / Palvetaja
2023 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaSelfie as a Lying Buddha / Selfi lamava buddhana
2023 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaBells 1997
1997 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaJaanika
2007 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaUntitled Action
2013 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaPraying for a friend
2023 · shown at Temnikova & KaselaBells. 1995 - 1997
Haus Galerii

23 works with a picture; the first 21 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: Mall Nukke · Marko Mäetamm · Rein Kelpman · Kaido Ole · Laurentsius · Enn Põldroos

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

Contemporaries in Temnikova & Kasela: Olga Chernysheva · Nina Vynnyk · Dan Mitchell · Josephine Pryde · Flo Kasearu

By decade: 1980s · 1990s · 2000s · 2010s · 2020s
By medium: Painting · Other · Installation · Mixed media · Photograph · Print · Drawing · Sculpture
Where the works are: Art Museum of Estonia · Tartu Art Museum · Estonian Academy of Arts 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