Illimar Paul
(1945)
Urban Landscape VII (Hiroshima). 1978-1979
Ink, paber. Km 55.5 x 57 cm (framed)
price 4 000
The exceptionally fine ink drawing is deceptive from a distance, as if it were a photograph. The Estonian graphic art of the 1970s, however, represented the strict modernist art paradigm, where the artist had to complete the entire sheet with own hands. Photography was seen as a pointlessly cheap and worthless way of creating an image with just the push of a button. Japanese art is renowned for its ink drawings and exquisite calligraphy, a tribute to their culture. In addition to the well-known political undercurrents – Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. In this image, however, we see a panorama of the reconstructed city of the early 1970s, with typical international-style buildings, reflections, mountains, and sky. The work is part of a larger Japanese series focusing mainly on architecture.