”A collector with a mission. Alfred Rõude”

The mission of Alfred Rõude (1896–1968), one of Estonia’s greatest art collectors, was to collect the best of contemporary Estonian art and, on a smaller scale, the best of the past, including Baltic German art. Thanks to his erudition and good taste, he selected the star works of his exceptionally rich collection, but he also supplemented his collection with many sketches and etudes that help to understand the creative process. At the same time, his purchases and orders supported the artists financially. His role in supporting and preserving the legacy of the greatest Estonian graphic artist Eduard Wiiralt was especially important.

Alfred Rõude can also be called a savior of works of art, because he searched for and found them in the former residences of the authors. Only thanks to this, several early masterpieces of Eduard Wiiralt and Konrad Mägi and examples of the work of artists who died young at the beginning of the 20th century remain. In addition, Rõude was the introducer and distributor of Wiiralt’s works in Estonia – he organized three large solo exhibitions of Eduard Wiiralt in Tallinn, Tartu and Helsinki. Rõude started collecting art in Tartu in 1926, continuing it later in Tallinn. His favorite artist was Eduard Wiiralt, from whom he collected everything from masterpieces to random drawings on matchsticks. He also greatly appreciated the work of his friend Andrus Johan, as well as the works of Konrad Mägi, Kristjan and Paul Raud, Aleksander Vardi, Ado Vabbe, Paul Burman, Jaan Grünberg, Oskar Hoffmann and Jaan Koort.

In addition to the aforementioned, he collected examples of the best works of other Estonian painters and graphic artists in his collection. The national romantic trend of the early 20th century, post-war graphics and bookplates stand out as a separate theme in Rõude’s collection. His collection also contained some works by Russian and Western European authors. In addition, he stored the artists’ letters and old photographs, as well as books, the oldest of which date from the 16th century.

Published by: Estonian Art Museum
Author: Anu Allikvee
Design and image processing: Külli Kaats
Dimensions 17 × 24.5 cm
Pages: 172
Format: Paperback
Language: Estonian, summary in English
Year of publication: 2019
ISBN: 978-9949-687-02-2

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