From the Treasury of the Estonian Art Museum

The paintings of Henn-Olavi Roode (4 Nov 1924 - 25 Dec 1974) constitute the most extensive attempt to interpret and develop post-war modernism in the constrained circumstances of the period. Roode did not limit himself to one sphere alone, and his searches in painting were expressed in city, interior and marine views. In the mid-1960s he took up abstractionism while also experimenting with portraits in different interpretations. In 1962 he painted his famous Market, which has been called the artist's manifesto. Roode's most important canvases were large compositions with numerous figures; they are the most serious works concerning the relations of figures, movement and space in the Estonian painting of the 1960s.