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Herman Talvik

Herman Talvik (Truu until 1927) was born in 31 may 1906 in Tallinn. He
started his study of art in the State Industrial Art School in Tallinn and
studied there during 1921-1926 in the bookbinding department
governed by Eduard Taska. In 1928 he continued his study of fine arts
in Finland's Art Society's school Ateneum in Helsinki, where he stayed
with interludes until 1939, while studying painting and graphics under
the guidance of noted Finnish artists such as Uuno Alanko (1878
1964), Mikko Oinoneni (18831956), William Lnnbergi (18871949)
and Reino Harsti (19001979). In the second half of the 1930s he also
travelled repeatedly to Europe to complement and improve, travelling
to Sweden, Germany, Holland and Belgium. Characteristically to the
era, he continued his studies in Paris, working in the years 1936-1938
periodically in different free academies and studying art history in
Ecole de Louvre.
In the 1930s Herman Talvik had exhibitions in both Estonia and Finland,
where his style of art raised a lot of attention. Herman Talvik stayed
closely involved with Finnish art scene until the onset of Winter War.
After that he returned to homeland and worked there as an art teacher.
Alike his tens of thousands countrymen, Herman Talvik also escaped to
Sweden with his family in 1944. There he became one of the most
outstanding figures in Estonian exile art. He was one of the few exiled
artists who managed to integrate and stand out as a freelance artist in
Sweden's art life. In the following years he was considered in Sweden
art criticism as one of the most exciting artists of Estonian nationality
and in 1963 he was the first Estonian artist to receive Sweden
Estonian's Representation's cultural award. In 1964 he also became a
member of Sweden Graphic Artists Society. All of his 40 years in
Sweden were creatively immensely intense and productive. Talvik
actively took part of exhibitions in Sweden, Finland, Canada, France,
Australia and in the United States of America. His works were bought
by the Swedish National Museum, museums in Malm, rebro,
Gteborg and Karlstad and by the City Library of New York.

He established his home in the 1950s in the secluded and austere


nature of Funsdalen in North-Sweden. But alike many Estonian exile
artists Talvik also was attracted to Southern Europe and lived long
periods in Spain, where he bought a second house for his family in the
1960s. Herman Talvik was the first Estonian artist in exile who dared to
return to Estonia with an exhibition composed of his art created
abroad, which was exhibited in 1971 in the Estonian Art Museum.
Herman Talvik is one of the greatest philosophical mystics and
visionaries in Estonian art. His real personality and style was noticeable
already in the middle of 1930s and in the start of 1940s, when aside
his nuanced landscape paintings one can notice the development of
his unique visionary-symbolic visual language. In the years of exile
Talvik's creation evolved towards greater constancy of form and
intellectual enlightenment. In the center of his creation are humane
and philosophical dwellings such as life and death, faith and hope,
suffering and salvation, eternity and fugacity. His world is filled with
tension, prophetical meanings and ambiguity. What makes Talvik's
graphic so enjoyable is how well he knows and uses different
techniques, lines, the contrasts of black and white and tone gradation
to create differently nuanced vibes and feelings.

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