Kaljo Polli 1928–2004 Tartu Motif. 1962

A rare work from Kaljo Polli’s early creative period, in which the author, with his peculiar artistic hand, has depicted the modern city of Tartu. Polli has chosen an unexpected jigsaw to depict it, standing somewhere near the Pärmivabriku factory and looking out over the wide river and the panorama of the city clustered around it. The composition, somewhat reminiscent of a painting by Villem Ormisson, depicts the Emajõgi River as the heart of Tartu’s urban life, a river that has not been dealt with in this way too often. On and around the river, however, we can see modern Tartu taking shape: The new Vanemuine building and the Rahu Bridge, built in the 1950s, but the towering cranes give a hint that the city’s renewal is continuing. For the overall tone of the painting, Polli has chosen blue, which also has the effect of amplifying the river, so that Tartu does indeed become the Athens of the Emajõgi River – only a modern Athens.