Alfred Kongo 1906–1990 Bouquet. 1986

Alfred Kongo ended his imposed internal exile in the 1950s and then began painting more actively again, mainly depicting farmsteads in his home region of Võrumaa, as well as still lifes. For Kongo, it was not particularly important which objects happened to appear in his paintings. Rather, he was much more interested in questions of color and form, which led his art to approach almost abstract painting. When he opened an exhibition in 1976, critic Eha Ratnik wrote: “In his still lifes, he is captivated by the diversity of the colors of objects and their harmonies.”

Kongo created still lifes frequently. One newspaper article states: “Paintings are usually completed in one or two sessions. Nothing could be more foreign to his temperament than excessive refinement. On the contrary, A. Kongo’s paintings may at first glance even seem sketch-like, but this is intentional—to preserve the immediacy of the initial impression. He often leaves parts of the base layer uncovered here and there to further enhance the freshness of the color. Such an improvisational working method once provoked disapproval among supporters of the academic school of painting.”