EMMA presents the largest exhibition ever by the Estonian modernist Konrad Mägi. Konrad Mägi – The Enigma of Painting transports viewers into the extraordinarily colourist world of this early 20th century modernist.

The media preview of the exhibition will be held on Tuesday, 28 September 2021, at 10:00. The preview will take place simultaneously online and on-site at EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art. Follow the press conference via this link.

Submit your interview requests to: iris.suomi@emmamuseum.fi.

Konrad Mägi was the most important representative of Estonian modernism and an avantgarde artist who developed a colouristic style entirely his own. Awareness of Mägi’s work is currently growing internationally. Produced by EMMA and curated by Museum Director Pilvi Kalhama, Konrad Mägi – The Enigma of Painting presents an unprecedented selection of the artist’s surviving paintings, including landscapes and his portraiture gems.  

The exhibition is accompanied by a book, written and edited by Pilvi Kalhama, that examines Mägi’s life and works from new perspectives. In addition to texts by Kalhama, the book includes articles by Mägi’s biographer; dramaturg Eero Epner; art historians Bart Pushaw, Kai Stahl and Inka Laine; and meteorologist and writer Seija Paasonen.  

“Mägi 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 on the periphery and to understand the true diversity of modernism,” says curator Pilvi Kalhama, and continues: “Mägi 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 Mägi’s work to a wider audience, both in Finland and internationally.”

Nature was Mägi’s 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. Mägi focused especially on how to paint and how to express things that could only be communicated in painting. 

Seeking connection with European art and identity, Konrad Mägi studied throughout and travelled across the continent, including Helsinki and Åland 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, from whom Mägi learned art. The letters Mägi sent to August have survived and reveal the artist’s thoughts about art and his era.

Produced in cooperation with the Kumu Art Museum, Konrad Mägi –The Enigma of Painting is, to date, the largest exhibition of the artist’s unique work. The exhibition’s partners, the Art Museum of Estonia (Eesti Kunstimuuseum) and the Konrad Mägi Foundation both work to promote Mägi’s international reputation. The support received from them for the exhibition at EMMA is an important part of that effort. Artworks received on loan are the result of cooperation with the Art Museum of Estonia, Tartu Art Museum, Viljandi Art Museum, Enn Kunila Art Collection, Under and Tuglas Literature Centre and private collections.