Aleksander Tassa

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Aleksander Tassa (1903)

Aleksander Tassa (born June 23 . Jul / July 5, 1882 greg. In Tartu , Livonia ; †  23. March 1955 in Tallinn , Estonian SSR ) was an Estonian painter , writer and museum educator.

life and work

Aleksander Tassa received artistic training in Tartu in 1897/98 with Rudolf Julius von zur Mühlen , in 1904/1905 at the School of Applied Arts in the Russian capital Saint Petersburg with Alexander von Stieglitz and in 1905/06 in Tallinn with Ants Laikmaa . Like other Estonians, he had to leave Saint Petersburg because of the student unrest in 1905. Tassa emigrated to Helsinki in 1906 and continued his artistic studies there.

In 1907 he traveled to Paris with the Estonian artists Konrad Mägi and Nikolai Triik . The stay left formative impressions for his further work. In 1913 he returned to Estonia via the Åland Islands, where he had already gathered artistic impressions in the summer of 1906.

He became friends with the artist Anton Starkopf and the writer Friedebert Tuglas . In 1913 Tassa created the illustrations for Tuglas' collection of novels Õhtu taevas .

During the First World War Tassa was drafted into the Russian army . Among other things, he fought on the front in the Caucasus against Turkey .

In 1918, after the end of the war, Tassa moved back to his Estonian homeland. Tassa settled in Nõmme . He was instrumental in founding the “ Pallas ” artists ' association. From 1918 to 1922 Tassa was chairman of the group. In 1925/26 he directed the “Pallas” art school.

From 1928 to 1931 and from 1940 to 1943 Tassa was employed at the Tallinn Art Museum. From 1931 to 1940 he worked at the Estonian National Museum ( Eesti Rahva Muuseum ) in Raadi, southern Estonia . He played a major role in systematising the respective collections. During the Second World War he was instrumental in the evacuation of the stocks.

Aleksander Tassa , 1905. Nikolai Triik .

Artistic and literary work

Aleksander Tassa was a versatile artist. He is particularly famous for his landscape paintings, as well as for his book illustrations in Art Nouveau . At the beginning of the 20th century he also created watercolors . In 1909 Tassa participated in the artistic design of the III. Album of the artist group Noor-Eesti ("Young Estonia"). He later turned to the Siuru movement.

In addition, Tassa wrote art-historical treatises, including on the history of Estonian woodblock printing in the 19th century (1948) and on Estonian lithography in the 19th century (manuscript, 1951).

Aleksander Tassa was also known as a writer in the 1920s. He wrote some novels and shorter dramas . They often have fantastic, legendary, or biblically inspired content. From 1902 Tassa translated fiction from Russian ( Chekhov ) and from Polish ( Prus ).

Tassa was a member of the Estonian Writers' Union . After the Soviet occupation of Estonia, he was expelled from the association on May 4, 1950.

Literary works (selection)

  • Nõiasõrmus (Fantastic Novels, 1919)
  • Hõbelinik (collection of short stories, 1921)
  • Kadaara sead (drama with biblical motifs, 1923)
  • Lihavõttemäng (drama with biblical motifs, 1924)
  • Põrgumäng (drama with biblical motifs, 1924)
  • Mooramaa isand (drama with biblical motifs, 1924)
  • Sügiskõnelused (short drama, 1927)
  • Seitse magajat (drama with biblical motifs, 1927)
  • Salomoni sõrmus (selection collection, 1970)
  • Igaviku lõpul (anthology, edited by Mari Kõiv, 1988)

Secondary literature

  • Eesti elulood. Tallinn: Eesti entsüklopeediakirjastus 2000 (= Eesti entsüklopeedia 14) ISBN 9985-70-064-3 , p. 521

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ekm.ee
  2. ↑ http://www.sirp.ee/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=197:aleksander-tassa-arhiiv-ootab-uurijaid&catid=6:kunst&Itemid=10&issue=3194  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.sirp.ee  
  3. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. Berlin, New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018025-1 , p. 550
personal data
SURNAME Tassa, Aleksander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tassa, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian painter and writer
DATE OF BIRTH July 5, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Tartu , Livonia
DATE OF DEATH March 23, 1955
Place of death Tallinn , Estonian SSR