Näituse "Olev Subbi. Täiuse poole püüeldes" vaade | Photo: Arp Karm / ERM
An abundant world of colour at the exhibition Olev Subbi: Striving for Perfection in the Estonian National Museum
Monday, 24. mar 2025
The exhibition is open from 22 March to 12 October 2025
On 22 March, the largest-ever solo exhibition of Olev Subbi’s (1930–2013) oeuvre opened in the Estonian National Museum (ERM).
Nearly 80 significant works by the legendary artist are on display in two exhibition halls. The works come from different museums and private collections, and the exhibition celebrates the 95th anniversary of Subbi’s birth.
The Head of Strategic Development of ERM, Laura Kipper emphasised at the opening of the exhibition that Subbi’s oeuvre could not be separated from his life: “Forgetting and remembering are both part of our framework of experiencing history, which is something we find in Subbi’s art, too. His life story is similar to the narratives of our families: none of us remained unscathed in the disruptions and crises of the previous century. This serves as a good point of contact with ERM: it is our task to describe and study culture through memory.”
The curator Eero Epner added: “It has been said about Olev Subbi’s oeuvre that each square centimetre in his paintings is perfect. The time in which he lived was far from perfect: he had to give up a lot to be a freelance artist. Nevertheless, he became a star of exhibition halls, enchanting viewers with his multilayered manner of painting and the brightness and playfulness of his palette, which reflected his search for timeless beauty and harmony.”
The aspects of Subbi’s oeuvre that set it apart were his painting technique, his approach to form, a positive attitude towards life, and the uniquely ideal-searching context, but he was also a prolific painter of nudes. He admired fin-de-siecle French Impressionism and pre-war Estonian painting, and his imagery also stemmed from personal memories of childhood summers in southern Estonia. The exhibition consists of Subbi’s memory landscapes, delicate nudes, portraits, depictions of groups of people, and abstract works, i.e. a cross-section of his finest works.
Olev Subbi was born in Tartu in 1930. His childhood summers on his uncle’s farm in southern Estonia left an indelible mark on his life and oeuvre. The farm was destroyed in World War II, and the war and deportations deprived Subbi of his father and one of his older brothers, and his sister fled to Canada. In 1947, Subbi enrolled in the State Art Institute in Tallinn, from where he was deported to Siberia during the first study year. He returned in 1957, and resumed his art studies. At first, he studied sculpture, but soon switched to painting. He had his first solo exhibition in 1966, and by the end of that decade he had already gained widespread recognition. He was one of the most highly appreciated artists in Estonia in the 1970s and 1980s, loved by art connoisseurs and critics alike. His later oeuvre became increasingly abstract. Subbi’s works have also been displayed abroad.
The exhibition’s curator is Eero Epner, the designer is Mari Kurismaa, and the graphic designer is Mari Kaljuste.
The exhibition also provides an overview of the artist’s life, and is accompanied by a catalogue and a fresh issue of Olev Subbi’s biography.
The exhibition was organised in cooperation between the Estonian National Museum and the art collector Enn Kunila, and it will remain open until 12 October 2025. Further information about the exhibition, tours and the public programme can be found at https://www.erm.ee/et/olev-subbi.
Contact:
Aivi Jürgenson
Head of Communication and Marketing of ERM
Phone: 5866 7773
press@erm.ee