Nikolai Triik facts for kids

Nikolai Triik, a famous Estonian artist.

Nikolai Voldemar Triik (born August 7, 1884, died August 12, 1940) was an important Estonian artist. He was a painter, graphic artist, and printmaker. He also taught art as a professor. His art often showed ideas from Symbolism and Expressionism. These were art styles that used symbols and strong feelings to express ideas.

Life and Art Journey

Nikolai Triik grew up in a regular family. After finishing school in 1901, he started studying at the Saint Petersburg Art and Industry Academy. But he was asked to leave because he took part in a student protest during the 1905 Revolution.

He came back home and kept learning art at a private school run by Ants Laikmaa. Later, he went back to Saint Petersburg to learn from another artist, Osip Braz.

Traveling to Learn Art

Self-portrait (1929)

The next year, he traveled with fellow artists Konrad Mägi and Aleksander Tassa to Åland. He also spent time in Helsinki, studying at the "Finnish Art Association" school.

Soon after, he got married and moved to Paris, France. Paris was a big art center at the time. There, he took classes at famous art schools like the Académie Colarossi, the Académie Julian, and the École des Beaux-arts.

After his studies in Paris, he visited Norway. Then he went back to Saint Petersburg again. He took more classes at an art academy run by Nicholas Roerich. For the next two years, he moved between Saint Petersburg and Tartu, an important city in Estonia.

Art and Teaching in Estonia

In 1911, Nikolai Triik started creating an art section for a magazine called Noor-Eesti. This magazine was published by a group of writers. He also made many artworks inspired by old Estonian stories and traditions.

After traveling to Copenhagen and Berlin, he finally settled in Estonia for good in 1913. He began working as an art teacher.

In 1916, he joined the board of the "Eesti Kunstiselts," which was an art association. From 1919 to 1920, he was in charge of Fine Arts at the Estonian Ministry of Education. That same year, he joined a new art group called "Pallas." He then moved to Tartu to teach at their art school.

From 1922 to 1926, he taught art privately in his own studio in Tartu. After that, he worked as a freelance artist until 1928. In 1933, he became the first Estonian artist to be named a Professor of Art. Nikolai Triik became ill in early 1940 and returned to Tallinn, where he passed away shortly after.

Selected Works

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  View of a Small Town (1905–1909)

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  Portrait of Konrad Mägi (1908)

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  Hunt (1913)

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  Finnish Landscape (1914)

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  Lennuk (1910)

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  Old Garden (1917)

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  From the Window (Tallinn) (1913)

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  Portrait of Pr. V. Triik-Martna (undated)