Elmar Kits 1913–1972 The Caucasus. 1946

Elmar Kits belonged to a generation of artists who were denied what had been permitted—and almost obligatory—for their predecessors: travel to Western Europe. His opportunities to go abroad were severely limited, and for that reason he sought to draw as much inspiration as possible from the Caucasus, and later from Karelia and Crimea.

In 1946 and 1947, Kits undertook creative trips to Armenia and Central Asia. This period marks the last truly vibrant phase of his artistic output for a long time. In 1947, his palette began to fade, and details became increasingly realistic and precise—that is, drier. Official demands started to constrain Kits’s painterly nature, requiring something quite different from what he excelled at. In the present painting, his strengths are clearly visible: improvisation, rapid brushstrokes, bright and vivid colors, and a joy in color itself. Rather than depicting the details of nature, he conveys an overall impression, focusing on emotion. Very soon, all of this would begin to break down and fade—but in this work, everything is still present; the cannons are still firing.