{"id":1961,"date":"2021-09-28T13:23:05","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T13:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/konradmagi.ee\/?post_type=exhibitions&p=1961"},"modified":"2026-04-03T13:17:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T13:17:01","slug":"espoo-museum-of-modern-art-espoo","status":"publish","type":"exhibitions","link":"https:\/\/konradmagi.ee\/en\/exhibitions\/espoo-museum-of-modern-art-espoo\/","title":{"rendered":"Espoo Museum of Modern Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

EMMA museum in Espoo<\/a>, Finland presents the largest exhibition ever by the Estonian modernist Konrad M\u00e4gi. Konrad M\u00e4gi \u2013 The Enigma of Painting<\/em> transports viewers into the extraordinarily colourist world of this early 20th century modernist.<\/p>\n

The retrospective exhibition of work by leading Estonian modernist features an unprecedently broad selection from the painter\u2019s oeuvre, some 150 works that highlight M\u00e4gi\u2019s expressive power, stunning colourism and uniqueness as an artist of his day. The exhibition is devided into sections that explore the origins of M\u00e4gi\u2019s career, his impressive portraits and his extensive landscape paintings from Finland, Norway, Estonia and Italy.<\/p>\n

The exhibition is accompanied by a book, written and edited by director of EMMA, the curator of the exhibition, Pilvi Kalhama. The book examines M\u00e4gi\u2019s life and works from new perspectives. In addition to texts by Kalhama, the book includes articles by M\u00e4gi\u2019s biographer Eero Epner, art historians Bart Pushaw, Kaj Stahl and Inka Laine; and meteorologist and writer Seija Paasonen.<\/p>\n

\u201cM\u00e4gi was a cosmopolitan who painted what he saw, experienced and learned on his travels, yet he always presented his own version and interpretation of the art movements of his day, which makes his work fascinating for the contemporary viewer. It is important today to shine the spotlight on talent from the periphery and to understand the true diversity of modernism,\u201c says curator Pilvi Kalhama, and continues: \u201cM\u00e4gi felt he was Nordic at heart, but his palette has the brightness and vivid colours of southern Europe. Colour was everything to him, and I would even venture to say it was the starting point of his art. I hope that the exhibition and accompanying artist book will open up M\u00e4gi\u2019s work to a wider audience, both in Finland and internationally.\u201c<\/p>\n

Nature was M\u00e4gi\u2019s main inspiration and a resource through which he explored the potential of painting. Interested in esotericism and symbolism, in his art he depicted the mysteriousness of life hidden behind visible reality. M\u00e4gi focused especially on how<\/em> to paint and how<\/em> to express things that could only be communicated in painting.<\/p>\n

Seeking connection with European art and identity, Konrad M\u00e4gi studied throughout and travelled across the continent, including Helsinki and \u00c5land in Finland, Russia, Norway, France, Italy, Germany and the Estonian countryside. He maintained long-lasting friendships with fellow artists; one of his perhaps closest friends was the Finnish August Vesanto, to whom M\u00e4gi teached art. The letters M\u00e4gi sent to August have survived and reveal the artist\u2019s thoughts about art and his era.<\/p>\n

The exhibition has been organised in partership with the Art Museum of Estonia. The works on display are from the collections of the Art Museum of Estonia, Tartu Art Museum, Viljandi Art Museum, Under and Tuglas Literature Centre of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Enn Kunila art collection and private collections.<\/p>\n

Curator of the exhibition is Pilvi Kalhama, project managers are Pilvi Kalhama and Inka Laine, exhibition designer is Milla Rissanen.
\nThe exhibition Konrad M\u00e4gi – The Enigma of Painting<\/em> will be open from 29 September 2021 to 23 January 2022.<\/p>\n

\n

The film about the exhibition entitled The Works of Konrad M\u00e4gi from a Nordic Perspective <\/strong><\/em>can be viewed here<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\"\"\n\"\"\n\"\"\n\"\"\n\"\"\n\"\"\n\"\"\n\"\"\n\"\"\n\"\"\n\"\"\n\"\"\n

Photos by Paula Virta<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EMMA museum in Espoo, Finland presents the largest exhibition ever by the Estonian modernist Konrad M\u00e4gi. Konrad M\u00e4gi \u2013 The Enigma of Painting transports viewers into the extraordinarily colourist world of this early 20th century modernist. The retrospective exhibition of work by leading Estonian modernist features an unprecedently broad selection from the painter\u2019s oeuvre, some… <\/p>\n

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