ILLIMAR PAUL PICTURES FROM MULTIPILE JOURNEYS

The exhibition will be open from September 3, but the official opening will take place on the artist’s 80th birthday, on September 16 at 5:00 PM.

This year, one of the most distinctive and innovative voices in Estonian art celebrates his 80th anniversary. Illimar Paul’s jubilee exhibition invites both longtime admirers and a new generation of art enthusiasts to experience the refined mastery of his work. At the heart of the exhibition lie impressions from journeys both real and imagined – expressed through vivid watercolors and evocative black-and-white drawings. The artworks displayed in the exhibition are part of a series created between 2021 and 2025.

The interpretation of the artworks in the exhibition is left entirely up to the viewer. However, Illimar Paul offers a hint by recommending listening to the progressive rock band The Moody Blues' song The Best Way to Travel. As the title suggests, the song revolves around the theme of travel and claims that the best way to travel is through the power of thought. Traveling, however, is not just a theme of the song – it is embedded in the sound itself. One of the song's distinctive features, especially for its time in 1968, is the so-called ping-pong echo, where the sound shifts back and forth between the left and right ear, creating the illusion of an auditory journey. 

Illusion is also central to Illimar Paul’s art. In his 2024 watercolor series Dreams of the Juniper I–IV, a mysterious world unfolds: each painted needle and berry appears like a tiny cosmos, inviting the viewer to travel inward, into the depths of the juniper’s vibrant universe. These watercolors create a captivating psychedelic effect. Other works, too, invite a sensory journey, such as a drawing of an old plum tree in Saaremaa, or a view of the Spanish city of Granada (both created in 2025). The images are composed of intriguing textures: small lines that crosshatch, curve, or undulate. It is only from a distance that these lines begin to resemble recognizable forms: trees, buildings, landscapes. The emptiness beside these lines can, however, evoke a vast sky. These are illusions crafted with technical precision. It is a form of optical play in visual art, and opticality is a kind of trickery: what the eye perceives as a tree is a dense thicket of lines. 

Illimar Paul describes the theme of his exhibition as the intertwining of two modes of travel: one is travel in the real world, exemplified by realistic landscapes; the other is mental travel, which manifests most clearly in abstract fantasy. Yet even a realistic landscape is, in a way, a product of imagination – an artist’s personal interpretation of a place. 

According to the artist, his drawings and paintings are based both on memory and on photographs, which is a method that has been common in landscape painting since the early 20th century. A particular moment and intriguing point of view are first captured in a photograph, followed by the meticulous, handcrafted creation of the artwork in the studio. Illimar Paul is especially appreciated for his atmospheric style and technical skill. His distinctive approach lies in his attention to detail, the masterful composition of lines and color, and his use of optical effects – even surrealism. 

Illimar Paul (b. 1945) is a beloved and renowned Estonian artist whose work primarily focuses on printmaking (including silkscreen and linocut), although he has also been active and successful in several other areas of visual art. Over a career spanning more than 50 years, he has additionally practiced watercolor, (ink) drawing, and ex libris art. He has participated in over 400 exhibitions both in Estonia and abroad, with his first exhibition taking place in 1969. Since 1975, Illimar Paul has been a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association, and since 2017, an honorary member. 

Illimar Paul studied at the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR (now the Estonian Academy of Arts) in the Department of Graphic Art from 1966 to 1968. He then moved to Germany to attend the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, graduating in 1971 with a degree in book design and applied graphics. He has primarily worked as a freelance artist but has also taught book design and typography at the Estonian State Art Institute (1972–1979) and at the Estonian Academy of Arts (1999–2021). Additionally, he served as the secretary of the board of the Estonian Artists’ Association from 1982 to 1987. 

Text: Lola Annabel Kass

The exhibition is supported by Estonian Cultural Endowment