WIIRALT, EDUARD (1898-1954)

“Arkeia” (1938)
Original etching
24 x 48cm
Signed lower right
 
Wiiralt is considered as the most remarkable master of Estonian graphic art. He studied at the Pallas Art School in Tartu, but his education was interrupted by the German Occupation in World War I. Following his participation in the Estonian War Of Independence, he furthered his studies at the Dresden Academy Of Art. He moved to Paris in 1925. In 1937 the International Graphic Exhibition in Vienna recognized him as the leading engraver in Europe, honoring him with its gold medal. From July 1938 to February 1939 he lived and worked in Marrakesh Morocco, returning the following year to his homeland Estonia. He returned to Paris in 1946, but tragically died of gastric cancer at only 55. He was buried in the famous Pere Lachaise Cimitere. His complete work consists of some 450 engravings, etchings, wood engravings and lithographs. He was a Societaire of the Salon d'Automne and of Salon des Independents in Paris, and an Honorary Member of the Royal Society of Etchers and Engravers in London. Wiiralt’s work is represented in several collections in both Europe and America, including: some Paris museums, the Albertina in Vienna, the Hamburg Kunsthalle, the Cabinet des Estampes in Antwerp, the Berlin Kupfertsichkabinett, the Prints Division of The New York Public Library, the National Museum in Stockholm, the Calografia Nationale in Rome, and the Museum of Western Art in Moscow. This RARE, gorgeous etching was produced when he lived in Marrakech, and depicts a naked local Muslim Girl, a hugely controversial and dangerous topic at the time.