Photographic material of the works by metal artist Elina Vainik has been added to the museum’s collection

26.11.2021

Collections

The museum’s collection has received a significant addition, photographic material of the work of metal artist Elina Vainik for two decades.

Elina Vainik (1935-2020) graduated from the Estonian National Institute of Art in 1963 with a degree in metalworking. After graduating, she started working in Vilnius, Lithuania, in art complex Daile, similar to Estonian ARS. In 1979, Vainik returned to Estonia and worked at the Art Institute in 1979–1992 as a teacher of sheet metal work and then as a freelance artist. In 1967, Elina Vainik became a member of the Lithuanian Artists ‘ Union and in 1979 a member of the Estonian Artists’ Union.

As an Estonian metal artist, she is extraordinary because most of her work has shaped the Lithuanian art landscape. A considerable part of her work has been designed for the public space, from coffee shops to  hotels and theaters. She has created park sculptures, wall panels, chandeliers, decorative plates and, to a lesser extent, jewelery. She is at the same time sensitive to detail and has an excellent generalization in her approach to various topics. The photographs include images from 1963 when she completed her metal panel Fisherman’s Women  to panel Joy (“Rõõm”) completed in 1986.

Knowledge of Elina Vainiku’s heritage and its extent is an important addition to the collections of ETDM and to the history of art here in general.