Wiiralt, Eduard

Born Mar. 8 (20), 1898, in the village of Gubanitsy, now in Volosovo Raion, Leningrad Oblast; died Jan. 8, 1954, in Paris. Estonian graphic artist.

Wiiralt studied in the Pallas Art School in Tartu (1919-24) and at the Dresden Academy of Art. He worked in Tallinn, Tartu, and Paris (from 1925). He visited Italy (1926), Morocco (1938), and Sweden (1945-46). He was influenced by expressionism. In tensely dramatic grotesque drawings (Cabaret, etching, chisel, 1931), Wiiralt reflected the tragic contrasts of a capitalist city; in other works he strove to re-create the inner harmony and beauty of the common people and nature (The Old Berber, black chalk, 1938, Tartu Art Museum; The Environs of Viljandi, drypoint, 1943).