Building up/on Power: representations of the Estonian national character in the works and words of Kristjan Raud
	Elo-Hanna Seljamaa

	Kristjan Raud (1865–1943) is the only Estonian artist so far to have made it on a banknote: his portrait embellished the yellowish 1-kroon note issued in 1992 and by now removed from circulation. However, Raud’s involvement in Estonian currency notes dates further back in time. In 1919, when the independent Republic of Estonia celebrated its first anniversary, Kristjan Raud participated in the design contest for new banknotes – the Estonian marks – and was chosen among the finalists. In the previous year he had been awarded one of the prizes in the postage stamp design contest. The award-winning design depicted an athletic sower working nakedly; the 10-mark note Raud was commissioned to execute together with a fellow artist likewise represented field labour and pastoral scenes. For the National Coat of Arms design competition organised in 1920, Raud proposed a series of sketches of an eagle holding a sword and clutching a serpent. These designs, too, were regarded as worthy of the second prize. National coats of arms, banknotes and stamps are all charged with immense symbolic value. Issued and administrated by the highest authorities, they seek to establish what they represent: a state with a right to self-determination, fixed borders, and with people who need to be represented. Judging by Raud’s active participation in various contests for such state symbolism, one could claim that he was deeply concerned about the visual markers of the young Estonian republic and therefore committed to fulfilling his artistic duty. It was with the same kind of dedicated enthusiasm that Kristjan Raud explained to the general public the significance of Estonian folk culture, folklore and, in particular, objects of traditional material culture. Having resided over a decade mostly abroad (first in Russia and later in Germany), Raud settled in the university town of Tartu in 1904 and became actively involved in circles fostering national interests. In line with many of his contemporary intellectuals, Raud was convinced that Estonian culture as a distinct phenomenon from German, Russian or any other culture of the world had to be developed by drawing on Estonia’s own resources. In the field of visual arts, this meant following the aesthetical guidelines to be found in the traditional Estonian folk art – in ornamented folk costumes, colourful woven textiles and other handmade everyday items such as carved tankards and rustic furniture, old working tools and so forth. In Raud’s view such objects represented in a highly condensed form the wisdom, daily life, and fantasy world of the old Estonians and hence the original national spirit of the Estonian people. Because this Volksgeist had developed in the course of an age-old symbiosis with the local nature, climate and the way of life dictated by these conditions, it distinguished Estonians from all other nations of the world. Furthermore, it provided sound evidence of the innate creative powers, life force, and history of the Estonian breed. The fact of having a history was of particular importance because it meant that Estonians were naturally included in the civilised part of a humanity conscious of its own past.
	In numerous articles published in Estonian newspapers and magazines during the first decades of the 20th century, Kristjan Raud determinedly over and over again elucidated the values and virtues that the previous generations had been accumulating into traditions. The survival of the Estonian nation as well as the future of the Estonian national culture lay in recognising the potential of this heritage and putting it into modern uses. Thus, it was not about scrupulously copying the old patterns or returning to wearing folk costumes; instead the aim was to move forward by carrying on the same mentality. Modern Estonians had to mentally immerse themselves in the traditions bequeathed to them by their forefathers in order to grasp the unique and original Estonian spirit these folk creations manifested. Furthermore, since modern life was pushing these arguably ancient traditions into oblivion, Kristjan Raud and his contemporaries were responsible for the collection and safekeeping of these documents for the next generations of Estonians. For this purpose, the Estonian National Museum was established in 1909 and Raud as one of its initiators was appointed the chairman for the collection committee of the Museum. The majority of his writings and speeches about folk culture aimed at propagating the idea of just such an institution, and at engaging his compatriots in mass-campaigns for collecting items to be preserved and displayed in the Museum. During the first years of independence, Raud held various administrative positions at the Ministry of Education, participating directly in outlining the arts and heritage policy of the young nation state. These various episodes from Raud’s life history seem to be of crucial importance to interpreting his artistic aspirations. His societal engagements and writings on the one hand, and his art works on the other, could be treated as interrelated components of the same plan. Furthermore, the programme that Raud was executing in the field of visual arts was part of the more fundamental project of building up the Estonian national culture, the distinctive characteristic of the Republic of Estonia. During the first four decades of the 20th century, motifs and plots drawn from the Estonian folklore and the national epic, The Son of Kalev (popular edition 1862), particularly fascinated Raud. When interpreting Raud’s works based on folklore in the light of his own writings and cultural activities summarised above, one could argue that in his art Kristjan Raud aimed at visualising the same Estonian national character he believed to be epitomised in the folk culture. By depicting the greatness of the ancient Estonians, Raud sent out a message to his fellow countrymen and women that encouraged them to re-discover this spirit naturally rooted in them and to allow it to become born again. At the same time and via these same images another message stressing the strength and vitality of the Estonian nation and state was sent to the ‘outer world’ excluded from the category of things Estonian. Farmers and shepherds on Raud’s banknote and stamp designs refer to the Estonians’ primeval relationship with their native soil, their innate love for work, persistence, and vigour. These same features – and great physical force in particular – are in the forefront in the illustrations that K. Raud provided for the 1935 festive edition of The Son of Kalev epic. Kalevipoeg, the leading person of the epic, is often depicted nakedly and engaged in sporting games, fights and other activities that enable him to build up his muscles and demonstrate his strength. The artist’s attraction to such shows of force is evident also in the recurring attack-motif depicting a group of armed soldiers dashing to war. In another series of drawings dating from the same period (1921–1939), Raud elaborated on the figure of a solitary gigantic guardian towering over a tiny village. In works like these, borders separating the past from the present and future become blurred: fighters swinging their axes could be warriors of yore, but just they could just as well be soldiers fighting in the Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920) or in some imaginary future battle to be fought over Estonia’s destiny. What matters and ultimately unites these warriors of the past, present and future, is their seeming readiness to fight, their willingness to survive. By attributing these traits to the ancient Estonians, Raud turned them into inherent qualities of the Estonian character, thereby adding a visual dimension to the beliefs, hopes and fears of the era. Kristjan Raud (1865–1943), prominent Estonian artist, studied art in St Petersburg, Düsseldorf and Munich. Best known for his national-romantic pencil and charcoal drawings. His main oeuvre was illustrating the national epic Kalevipoeg. In 2006 the Kumu Art Museum organized an extensive exhibition of works by him and his brother, the painter Paul Raud. Elo-Hanna Seljamaa (1980), MA in folklore from University of Tartu
	| Estonian Art 2/06 (19) | Published by the Estonian Institute 2006 | ISSN 1406-5711 (Online) | ISSN 1406-3549 (Printed version) | einst@einst.ee | tel: (372) 631 43 55 | fax: (372) 631 43 56 |