Enno Ootsing (born 18 April 1940) is an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n artist and academic. He has worked as a freelance graphic artist and designer, book artist and illustrator. In 1980, he became a lecturer at the

Estonian Academy of Arts The Estonian Academy of Arts (Estonian language, Estonian: ''Eesti Kunstiakadeemia'', EKA) is the only public university in Estonia providing higher education in art, design, architecture, Media (communication), media, art history and conservation ...

, and from 1984 until 2005, he was a professor and head of the graphics department of the institute. Since 2007 he has been a professor emeritus at the institute.

Early life and education

Enno Ootsing was born in

Räpina Räpina (, ) is a town in Põlva County, Estonia. Räpina was administrative centre of Räpina raion from 1950 until 1961, currently it is the administrative centre of Räpina Parish. The oldest commercial enterprise in Räpina is a paper fac ...

. His father was a non-commissioned officer in the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence, also known as the War of Freedom in Estonia, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Russian westward offensive of 1918–1919 and the ...

and received a plot of land in Alamõisa for his participation in the war, where he built a home. Ootsing attended schools in Räpina, graduating from Räpina Secondary School in 1958. Afterwards, he enrolled at the Tartu Art School, graduating in 1961 with a degree in painting and art pedagogy. In 1966 he graduated from the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR (now, the

) in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

with a degree in graphic design.

Career

Art

In 1964, Ootising was a cofounder of the influential art collective ANK '64, with other young artists who received art education at the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR (ERKI), which included Tõnis Vint, Malle Leis, Jüri Arrak, Kristiina Kaasik, Tiiu Pallo-Vaik, Vello Tamm, Marju Mutsu, Tõnis Laanemaa, Anu Liivak, Sigrid Saarep, and Aili Vint. The group were strongly interested in

youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community. An emphasis ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. It began in the early 20th century, and was especially popular from the 1960s on, the term "Op ...

and pop art, but didn't share a predominant cohesive artistic style. Members of the group were not only active as artists, but also organized and attended lectures on foreign artists and their activities. Their activities aroused suspicion by Soviet authorities and the group were frequently monitored by the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

. ANK' 64 disbanded in 1969 and is credited as playing an important part in renewing the contemporary art scene in Estonia in the 1960s. Since the mid-1960s, Ootsing has had numerous group and solo exhibitions, both nationally and internationally. Although he has worked in a variety of mediums, he prefers to work in

monotyping Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix (printing), matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to a ...

and automatic drawing. He is also known for his work in

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

. His most recent solo exhibition, ''Juured ja võrsed. Album'', dedicated one-hundred works of visual art to the 100th Anniversary of the Estonian Republic, with an emphasis on

Võrumaa Võrumaa (; ) was a historical county in Estonia. The historical Võrumaa includes the areas of the present counties of Võru, Põlva, Valga and Tartu. Ancient period The center of the settlement of Võrumaa is the banks of the Võhandu rive ...

was held in

Võru Võru (; ; ) is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish. History Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, at the request of the Empress Catherine II of Russia, by the o ...

and

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

in 2018. He has worked extensively as a

graphic art A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional graphics, i.e. produced on a flat surface,graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

er and has become well known as a book designer and illustrator; beginning in the early 1970s, he has designed and illustrated books written by

A. H. Tammsaare Anton Hansen (18 (O.S.)/30 January 1878 – 1 March 1940), better known by his pseudonym A. H. Tammsaare and its variants, was an Estonian writer whose pentalogy '' Truth and Justice'' (''Tõde ja õigus''; 1926–1933) is considered one of t ...

Jaan Kaplinski Jaan Kaplinski (22 January 1941 – 8 August 2021 ) was an Estonian poet, philosopher, politician, and culture critic, known for his focus on global issues and support for left-wing/ liberal thinking. He was influenced by Eastern philosophical s ...

Eduard Vilde Eduard Vilde ( – 26 December 1933) was an Estonian writer, a pioneer of critical realism in Estonian literature, and a diplomat. He was the author of classics such as ''The War in Mahtra'' and ''The Milkman from Mäeküla''. He was one of the ...

Eno Raud Eno Raud (15 February 1928 – 10 July 1996) was an Estonian children's writer. His works are considered classics in Estonia as well as in the other former Soviet countries. Raud was included in International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY ...

Mats Traat Mats Traat (23 November 1936 – 27 June 2022) was an Estonian poet, poetry translator, and author. Career Traat was born in Arula, Otepää Parish. He debuted in 1962 with a collection of poetry. He published over 20 anthologies of poetry. ...

Paul-Eerik Rummo Paul-Eerik Rummo (born 19 January 1942) is an Estonian poet, playwright, translator and politician who was the former Estonian Minister of Culture and Education, as well as the former Estonian Minister of Population Affairs. Rummo was born in T ...

Viivi Luik Viivi Luik (born 6 November 1946, in Tänassilma, Estonia) is an Estonian writer and poet. Life From 1965 to 1967, Luik studied at the Tallinn extramural secondary school, working at the same time as a librarian. In 1970, Luik joined the Es ...

Arvo Valton Arvo Vallikivi (14 December 1935 – 26 July 2024), commonly known under the pen name of Arvo Valton, was an Estonian writer known for a number of books and, among other things, the script for Viimne reliikvia, the highly successful film adaptati ...

Friedrich Issak Friedrich Issak (20 November 1915, Petrograd – 11 May 1991) was an Estonian sportsman and journalist. As a javelin thrower, he won gold and bronze medals at the International University Games and was national champion of Estonia and late ...

William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel '' Lord of the Flies'' (1954), Golding published another 12 volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 19 ...

, Arthur van Schendel,

Alexander Blok Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

, Vladislav Titov, and

Rachel de Queiroz Rachel de Queiroz (, November 17, 1910 – November 4, 2003) was a Brazilian author, translator and journalist. Biography Rachel de Queiroz was born on November 17, 1910 in Fortaleza, capital of the northeastern state of Ceará. During her c ...

. From 1965 until 1972 he worked as an artist and designer for the magazine ''

Kultuur ja Elu ''Kultuur ja Elu'' (meaning "Culture and Life" in English) is an Estonian magazine dedicated to culture. History and profile ''Kultuur ja Elu'' has been issued since 1958. In the 21st century, the journal developed into an almost exclusively m ...

''. From 1972 until 1976, he was the executive secretary of the Estonian Artists' Union. From 1976 until 1980 he was a freelance artist.

Educator

In 1980, he became a lecturer at the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR. In 1982 he was elected head of the graphics department of the institute. He was a professor at the institute until retiring in 2005 (renamed the Estonian Academy of Arts). Since 2007, he has been a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

with the academy.

Awards and acknowledgements

Meritorious Artist Merited Artist, Honored Artist, etc., is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Russian Federation, Union Republics, and autonomous republics, also in some other Eastern Bloc states, as well as in a number of post-Soviet states. In Russian language ...

of the

Estonian SSR The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit ( union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia ...

(1983) *Riga I Triennial of Miniature Prints award (1983)

References

Bibliography *

External links

''Pildi sisse minek: Enno Ootsing''

Eesti Rahvusringhääling Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) – ''Estonian Public Broadcasting'' – is a publicly funded and owned radio and television organisation created in Estonia on 1 June 2007 to take over the functions of the formerly separate Eesti Raadio ...

arhiiv. 4 May 1986 (in Estonian). Retrieved 18 October 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ootsing, Enno 1940 births Living people Estonian graphic artists Estonian magazine illustrators 20th-century Estonian illustrators 21st-century Estonian illustrators Estonian lecturers Estonian printmakers Estonian Academy of Arts alumni Academic staff of the Estonian Academy of Arts 20th-century Estonian male artists 21st-century Estonian male artists 20th-century Estonian educators 21st-century Estonian educators 20th-century Estonian painters 21st-century Estonian painters People from Räpina