Henno Arrak 1930–2017 --. 1973

The theatrical scene comes from somewhere on the border between fairy tale and reality. Empty manuscripts, a candle, wreaths around a pillar, a castle, an Italian landscape, a bridge, as if high-class textiles - and then in the foreground a female nude depicted only as an outline and a very detailed young Pierrot. Does the scene mark in spirit the migration to Italy during the Cold War period, when Soviet citizen tourism there was excluded? And in the case of photography, was it officially frowned upon to take pictures of the female nude? An artist with a background in book illustration and work in an encyclopedia publishing house, as well as an active resistance struggle, seems to be on the wavelength of fantasy here.