Konrad Mägi

(1878-1925)

Alvine Käppa portree. 1919

Oil on canvas. 102 x 76 cm (not framed)
price 18 279 (sold)


Konrad Mägi "Alvine Käppa portree"

The current auction expositions have left such a picture of the Estonian art history, where prevail landscape and city views or still-lives, somehow pushing the importance of the portarait art to the background. It is true, the local art history is not exactly rich in portraits and the reason could first of all be the special requirements of this art form: it requires high technical skills, which must be accomplished by an extraordinary ability to change a simple drawing of a person into portraying of the person - into a subtle viewing of his/ her inner world. Therefore the number of artists, having wished to take such a complicated task has not been big. And who elso, if not Konrad Mägi?
More frequent portraying of man in the European painting started in the 15th century Italy, the so-called Reneissance period. While comparing with the Middle Ages, when mainly were depicted saints or characters, known from the Christianity, the turn towards portraying of a live human being was steep, but not unexpected. Already in the 14th century the prevailing social scheme started to re-form (spreading of city-states), in connection of which also changed the previous values - the secular man started to emerge gradually, and was not viewed any more as an anonymous particle of a mass, but rather as an outstanding individual. Already then the portrait art was roughly divided into two types: simple painting of a person, the sole aim of which was as true depiction as possible and painting of the soul of a person, where in addition to the outer form of a man was also of importance his essence. (Beginner of this trend is sometimes regarded Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa).
The Estonian painting has never placed portrait especially to the foreground or left it on the background. It has always sort of existed, but has never been completely visible. Just this situation creates a paradox: wider public often does not accept portraits, being afraid to see in a picture just a stranger. At the same time art expert regard portrait painting to be the proof of the existence of certain high skills - the fact that the artist possesses besides the skill to paint landscapes and lifeless objects also the skill to paint a human being with a very enigmatic inner world. Painting of a portrait is a kind of aspiration to generalize and put into words the world through the eyes of the person, looking down from the picture. We can say without exaggeration that portraits often help to give light to the artist's other creation, as portraits concentrate in some senses all the best traits of the author's world vision and handwriting.
Next to the name of Konrad Mägi from the Estonian art history can maybe be found three-four artists, who would be as outstanding in the cultural history of the last 150 years and would have altered and formed its processes. From one hand his importance as a teacher and the first director of Pallas, from another hand - and this first of all - his importance as an artist. We can often notice here and there the samples of Mägi's extra forceful colours, partly balancing on the borders of mental conditions. We undoubtedly grasp the Konrad Mägi-style of room without being able to define it.
Portrait of Alvine Käppa is very characteristic to the few samples of the portraits of Mägi and therefore it is one of the most widely exposed and well-known portraits by Mägi ever. The artist has not exactly been interested in the concrete person but he tries to depict an ideal type of a woman - a wide-eyed maiden with a slightly glowing skin. Glance, being as blue as a lake bottom that looks past the artist, grazing once again the window frame in order to leave the room finally, is something that our experience can grasp. While blending into the bright green background, it still does not become the "victim" of seduction - no one can get too close to an ideal.
We can discuss the extraordinary traits of the work in different ways. Should we start from the fact that the chance to acquire Konrad Mägi work is very seldom, it is almost impossible to acquire large-format works that have been accomplished by the author at the peak of his creation period? Or the fact that as portaits in the local older art have been pushed aside to a quite big extent by landscape paintings, the creation of Mägi is also few in numbers, but the more remarkable? Or even such a fact that from the few portraits by Mägi only three works have remained in private collections?
The work was exposed at the exhibition, dedicated to the 100.anniversary of the artist in the Estonian Art Museum in 1978 (catalogue no 90). Also the work is exposed at the exhibition, dedicated to the 100.anniversary of Konrad Mägi in the Tartu Kivisilla gallery in the year 1998.

Booking and purchase

Appearance in auctions

Landscape
Konrad Mägi
Landscape
1915-1916. Oil, cardboard 49.5 x 65.5 cm (framed)
ESTONIAN ART AUCTION - MID-19TH CENTURY TO 1965 Haus Gallery 06.05.2023
156 000
Final price: 401 000
Norwegian Landscape
Konrad Mägi
Norwegian Landscape
1908-1910. Oil, paper 25.4 x 33.2 cm (framed)
EARLIER ART CLASSICS Haus Gallery 29.10.2022
64 000
Final price: 103 000
(sold)"> (sold)Oberstdorfi maastik
Konrad Mägi
Oberstdorfi maastik
1922. oil, canvas 41 x 26 cm (framed)
Haus Gallery's spring auction Haus Gallery 25.04.2019
23 000
Final price: 26 000
Dieppe´i motiiv
Konrad Mägi
Dieppe´i motiiv
1911. oil on cardboard 46 x 57 cm (framed)
HAUS GALLERY XXXIX AUCTION 2016 spring Haus Gallery 30.03.2016
29 000
Final price:
(sold)"> (sold)Kuuvalgus
Konrad Mägi
Kuuvalgus
1906-1910. pencil, watercolor lm 25 x 33 cm (framed)
Haus Gallery 28.03.2013
2 400
Final price: 2 400
Dieppe'i motiiv
Konrad Mägi
Dieppe'i motiiv
1911. oil on cardboard 46 x 57 cm (framed)
Haus Gallery 26.10.2012
38 500
Final price:
Rooma motiiv
Konrad Mägi
Rooma motiiv
1922-1923. oil on canvas 58.5 x 50.5 cm (framed)
Haus Gallery 08.11.2010-10.11.2010
49 851
Final price:
(sold)"> (sold)Itaalia maastik
Konrad Mägi
Itaalia maastik
1922-1923. -- 85.5 x 62.5 cm (framed)
HAUS GALLERY XXII ART AUCTION 2008 spring. Old Masters Paintings Haus Gallery 22.04.2008
58 799
Final price: 73 498
(sold)"> (sold)Capri maastik
Konrad Mägi
Capri maastik
1922-1923. oil on canvas 58.5 x 67.5 cm
HAUS GALLERY´S 10. anniversary art auction Haus Gallery 25.09.2007
33 873
Final price: 127 823
(sold)"> (sold)Saaremaa rand
Konrad Mägi
Saaremaa rand
1913. Oil on cardboard 40 x 50 cm
HAUS GALLERY XVIIth ART AUCTION, 2005 autumn Haus Gallery 20.10.2005
24 286
Final price: 24 286
(sold)"> (sold)Itaalia maastik
Konrad Mägi
Itaalia maastik
1921. Oil on canvas 67 x 58 cm
HAUS GALLERY XVIIth ART AUCTION, 2005 autumn Haus Gallery 20.10.2005
34 512
Final price: 41 606
(sold)"> (sold)Saaremaa
Konrad Mägi
Saaremaa
1913. Oil on cardboard 38 x 48 cm (not framed)
HAUS GALLERY XVIth ART AUCTION, 2005 spring Haus Gallery 25.04.2005
18 854
Final price: 18 854
(sold)"> (sold)Rannamaastik
Konrad Mägi
Rannamaastik
1913. Oil on cardboard 38 x 48 cm
HAUS GALLERY XVth ART AUCTION, 2004 autumn Haus Gallery 21.10.2004
12 463
Final price: 39 306
(sold)"> (sold)Capri
Konrad Mägi
Capri
1922. Oil on canvas 56 x 68 cm (not framed)
HAUS GALLERY XIVth ART AUCTION, 2004 spring Haus Gallery 04.04.2004
11 632
Final price: 64 295
(sold)"> (sold)Maastik kellatorniga (Kihelkonna)
Konrad Mägi
Maastik kellatorniga (Kihelkonna)
1913. Oil on canvas 61 x 68 cm
HAUS GALLERY XIIIth ART AUCTION 2003 autumn Haus Gallery 23.10.2003
10 098
Final price: 21 826
(sold)"> (sold)Normandia maastik
Konrad Mägi
Normandia maastik
1911. Pencil, water-colour, paper 23 x 31 cm
HAUS / XIIth AUCTION, 2003 spring Haus Gallery 24.04.2003
3 132
Final price: 3 132
(sold)"> (sold)Alvine Käppa portree
Konrad Mägi
Alvine Käppa portree
1919. Oil on canvas 102 x 76 cm (not framed)
HAUS / XI AUCTION, 2002 autumn Haus Gallery 24.10.2002
18 279
Final price: 18 279
(sold)"> (sold)Maastik
Konrad Mägi
Maastik
1916. Oil on cardboard 25 x 50 cm (not framed)
HAUS / VII AUCTION, 2000 autumn Haus Gallery 26.10.2000
5 305
Final price: 5 305
Oberstdorfi maastik
Konrad Mägi
Oberstdorfi maastik
1922. Oil on canvas 41 x 26 cm (not framed)
HAUS / V AUCTION, 1999 autumn Haus Gallery 12.10.1999
6 391
Final price:
Lõuna-Eesti maastik
Konrad Mägi
Lõuna-Eesti maastik
1916. Pencil, paper 10 x 15 cm
HAUS / IV AUCTION, 1999 spring Haus Gallery 26.04.1999-24.04.1999
703
Final price:

Appearance in exhibitions

The Field Of Tulips
Konrad Mägi
The Field Of Tulips
1909-1910. Oil, canvas 41 x 60 cm (framed)
WORKS FROM TWO PRIVATE COLLECTIONS Haus Gallery 15.02.2023-13.03.2023

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