Mart Lepp (born December 28, 1947) is an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

art collector and the owner of the largest art collection in Estonia. His art collection includes nearly 25,000 works. Much of his art collection was assembled through inexpensive purchases or for free, as gifts from artists or their relatives.

Early life

Mart Lepp was born 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 ...

in 1947. He graduated from Tallinn Evening High School No. 10 (now ) in 1969.

Collection

His art collection, which initially included 300 works—mainly etchings by Western European and Russian painters of the 19th century, as well as paintings, sculptures, and graphics by Estonian artists (

August Weizenberg August Ludwig Weizenberg (6 April 1837 – 22 November 1921) was an Estonian sculptor. Life Weizenberg was born in the inn of Ritsike, near Kanepi, southeast Estonia. Weizenberg's father was a shoemaker and he learnt how to carve wood in Era ...

Kristjan Raud Kristjan Raud (22 October 1865, Kirikuküla, Vinni Parish – 19 May 1943, Tallinn) was an Estonian symbolist painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Estonian National Museum. Folklore elements figure heavily in his subject ma ...

, Eduard Wiiralt,

Paul Burman Paul Burman (28 February 1888 in Kamianets-Podilskyi – 3 June 1934 in Tallinn) was an Estonian painter and graphic artist of Baltic Germans, Baltic German descent. He was the elder brother of architect and painter Karl Burman. Burman moved to E ...

Aleksander Vardi Aleksander Vardi (until 1940 Aleksander Bergman; 4 September 1901 Tartu – 18 June 1983 Tartu) was an Estonian painter. In 1919, Vardi enrolled at the Pallas Art School, studying under the instruction of Konrad Mägi and Ado Vabbe, graduating ...

, and )—was founded by his mother Selma Lepp (1911–1977). Lepp started collecting graphics in 1961, and in 1972 he started focusing on Estonian painting. The collection also includes watercolors, drawings, and sketches. He has held a series of exhibitions of his collection and published folder series, catalogs, and bibliophile publications. Lepp has also written books on botany. Very large collections have developed for the most important artists in the overall collection. There are over a thousand works by individual artists. Large collections by several individual artists in Lepp's collection include the works of

, Jüri Arrak, Valdur Ohakas, Olav Maran, , , Peeter Mudist, , , , , Elmar Kits, and

Eduard Ole Eduard Ole (20 May 1898 – 24 November 1995) was an Estonian painter. Some of his most representative works are on permanent exhibition at the Kumu Art Museum of Estonia. In 1973, Ole published in Sweden his two-volume illustrated memoirs ' ( ...

References

1947 births 20th-century art collectors 21st-century art collectors Estonian art collectors People from Tallinn Living people {{Estonia-bio-stub