Jüri Marran 1937–2021 Spring in the Studio. 2002

Jüri Marran did not receive an overly extensive formal art education, but this did not prevent him from developing his own distinctive style. Marran worked in a wide range of classical genres, and still lifes were by no means unfamiliar to him. In Marran’s still lifes, the emphasis is not so much on capturing atmosphere or mood, but on the emotional impact of color. By using unusually strong and intense colors, Marran’s still lifes often feel more like an explosion than a quiet composition. Vigorous, beating brushstrokes add further expressiveness and passion, creating a counterbalance to the domesticity of the subject. Marran is impulsive and emotional, and within this riot of color, the motif is barely recognizable. The brush does not dance lightly across the surface but thrashes back and forth, the strokes are forceful, and they are layered upon one another.