Konrad Mägi

Konrad Mägi (* November 1, 1878 Hellenurme mõis in Tartu; † August 15, 1925 in Tartu) was an Estonian landscape painter and art educator.

Life

Mägi received from 1899 to 1902 a first art training in drawing courses of the German society of artists of Tartu. At the same time he worked intensively with the theater, playing the violin and various sports. He continued his musical education from 1903 to 1905 continued as a guest student in Saint Petersburg. In the fall of 1907 he went to Paris, where he studied at a free academy of arts.

Konrad Mägi was one of the farbensinnigsten Estonian painters of the first decades of the 20th century. In Åland, he painted delicate Art Nouveau vignettes of plants: Kahekesi ( togetherness; 1908; Chinese ink drawing ). In Paris Mägi had contact with Impressionism and Fauvism. This influenced his choice of color: Lille Line Väli majakesega ( Blumenfeld with small house; 1908-1909 ), Norra maastik männiga ( Norwegian landscape with pine; 1910). Mägis work on motives of the island of Saaremaa are the first modern Estonian nature paintings.

From 1918 to the influence of Expressionism is determinative, nourished by Mägis special sensibility and feeling as response to troubled times: Pühajärv ( The lake Pühajärv; 1918-1920 ), Otepaeae maastik (Landscape at Otepaeae; 1918-1920 ). Also influenced by Expressionism are his big figure compositions Pietà ( 1919), Kolgata ( Golgotha ​​; 1921). A new artistic phase, which began with a trip to Italy, brought gentler moods: Varemed Capril ( Ruins in Capri, 1922-1923 ). In addition to natural images Mägi also painted flowers and portraits. His beautiful woman painting push the ideal of beauty of Art Nouveau from: Holsti (1916). In his later portraits in 1920, he shows a more serious nature: Madonna ( 1923-1924 ).