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Henn Roode

Henn-Olavi Roode (4 November 1924 Tallinn - 25 December 1974 Tallinn) was an Estonian painter.

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Roode was born into a family of an engineer (father) and a doctor (mother).After graduating (1943) from the  prestigious Tallinn Jakob Westholm Gymnasium, he started his studies (1944-1947)  at the National Art Institute of Tartu (professors painters Ado Vabbe and Elmar Kits). In the autumn semester of 1947, he studied at the Tallinn State Applied Art Institute (professors painters Johannes Võerahansu and Lepo Mikko).

20.11. 1949 Roode was arrested in Tartu on the basis of fabricated charges. Within a few weeks, art students Ester Potisepp (future wife), Lembit Saarts, Ülo Sooster, Valdur Ohakas and Heldur Viires were also arrested from his circle of friends. 14.06. 1950, by special decision of the USSR Ministry of State Security, the students were sentenced to 10 years in prison in labor camps. Henn Roode was sent to Lugovoilag (also known as Pestšanlag) in the Karaganda region of the Kazakh SSR. The imprisonment of a group of students was intended to intimidate the intelligentsia and, above all, the artists. [1] This action was most likely part of a campaign to compromise the diffusion of the art of the Paris School, leading to the liquidation of the independent National Art Institute of Tartu at the end of 1950. [2] Following his imprisonment, Roode was released prematurely in 1956 and rehabilitated in the same year.

From 1956 to 1959 Roode studied at the Estonian State Art Institute in Tallinn, graduating with a diploma in painting, submitting as his final exam work the oil painting "Mahtrasse". [3] Roode started exhibiting his work immediately after graduating and became a member (1964) of the Estonian Artists' Union. He worked mostly as a freelance artist until his early death.

He married his fellow student, painter Ester Potisep (born Esther Raudsepp). Two daughters were born into the family.

Roode died on December 25 in 1974 of gastric cancer. He was buried in the Metsakalmistu Cemetery (Forest Cemetery) in Tallinn.

Style and philosophy

Considered intellectual and truth seeking in nature, the philosophy of Roode’s work revolves around the higher categories, such as truth and the absolute. He was like a scientist who tried to separate the random from the essential, analyzing the relationship between the objective ideal and the subjective form. The legacy of Roode’s works consists of paintings, notably seascapes, cityscapes, abstractions, portraits with different degrees and forms of deformation, nudes, self-portraits, still lifes as well as monumental compositions (”Market”, ”Demonstration”, ”Asphalters”, ”Home Harbour”). Equally rich is the legacy of Roode’s drawings (sketches, still lifes, self-portraits, portraits, nudes, maritime themes, etc.). [4]

No genre or theme is particularly preferred in Roode’s work as he was fascinated by problems rather than motives. [5] For Roode, the most important concepts were volumes, rhythm and geometry. His works are the most serious experiments in Estonian painting in the 1960s, dealing with the relationship between figure, movement and space. [6] In 1962, Roode’s manifesto ”Market” was completed, to which there was no equivalent in Estonian art of that time. [7] The main paradox of Roode’s work is that by limiting himself to the world of structures, colours and surfaces, he was constantly striving to abolish form [4]. For Roode, the inherent problem of space in abstract art was not only an aesthetic issue, but also a spiritual one. This was an approach to a philosophical issue towards which he had no fear of using the concept of absolute truth. [8]

Artistic legacy

Several of Roode’s works are exhibited in Kumu's permanent exhibition. A selection of the best paintings belongs to the Estonian Art Museum’s collection. •	1960 ”Market” •	1961 ”Market (Flower Market)” with cubist influences •	1961-1962 ”In the paper mill” •	1963 ”Fishing” •	1963 ”Loading the forest” •	1964 Purely abstract ”Robust” •	1965 ”Nose” •	1965 ”Self-portrait •	1965 ”Demonstration” - motif with cubistly abstracted red flags and slogans •	1971-1972 ”Rails and wheels” •	1974 ”Runners” Many of Roode’s works are in private collections.

[Photo: Wife’s portrait (Esther Roode)]

Exhibitions •	1969 in the Art Museum of Estonia •	1970 in the Tartu Art Museum •	1973 at the Tallinn Art Salon •	1981 in the Estonian State Art Museum •	1988 in the Draakon Gallery, Tallinn •	1999 in the Adamson-Eric Museum, Tallinn •	2007 in the Kumu Museum, Tallinn In co-operation with the Estonian Art Museum and Eesti Post (stamps with the paintings from the Gold Fund of the Estonian Art Museum Kumu), a postage stamp (designed by L. Lõhmus) was issued in 2011 with Henn Roode's work "Market" (1961).

1.	Paintings by Henn Roode in Estonian Art Museum Kumu http://digikogu.ekm.ee/search?searchtext=Roode&searchtype=complex&imageField.x=0&imageField.y=0

References 2.	Peeter Väljas, Etüüde Tartu kunstnikkonnast, 1950. aastad. Tuna. Ajalookultuuri ajakiri 1991,1. lk.31-47. 3.	Toomas Karjahärm ja Helle-Mai Luts. Kultuurigenotsiid Eestis. Kunstnikud ja muusikud. 1940-1953, lk. 126. Vt ka „Tartu kunstiüliõpilaste grupi süüdistuskokkuvõte“, samas lk 354-357. 4.	V. Jõeste, Kaitsti diplomitöid - Sirp ja Vasar, 10.07.1959 5.	Kädi Talvoja, Henn Roode. Modernist saatuse kiuste / Modernist Despite Fate, EKM, 2007. 6.	Hilja Läti. Henn Roode maalide näitus. Kataloog, Tartu Riiklik Kunstimuuseum, 1969 7.	Sirje Helme, Eesti kunsti ajalugu, köide 6, I osa, 2013, lk 262. 8.	Eha Komissarov.Tuhat kilomeetrit oli kuristik. Tallinn-Moskva. Näitus Tallinna kunstihoones 1996-1997, 1997, lk 92. 9.	Eha Komissarov, Geomeetriline kunst eestis, Kunst nr 64/, lk 30, 1984.