Jüri Palm 1937–2002 Lunch Break. 1961

Jüri Palm was once introduced in a newspaper as follows: “Art enthusiasts have the opportunity to explore a selection of works by the artist Jüri Palm. Jüri Palm was born on April 14, 1937, in Tallinn and enrolled in the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR in 1957. After studying ceramics for a year, he switched to the graphics department and graduated as a graphic artist and poster designer in 1968. Although his debut in free graphics and illustration suggested the emergence of a remarkable graphic talent, the artist turned to painting in search of a more personally satisfying means of expression.”

This work was created during his studies and depicts a fairly common motif—people resting from fieldwork—using dramatic contrasts and colors, with a subtle erotic nuance. As Mai Levin noted: “His woodcuts, linocuts, and lithographs from the mid-1960s attracted attention with their grandly generalized forms and primitively mysterious, austere mood.”