Villem Ormisson

[3] From Purvītis, the preeminent Baltic landscape painter of his time, he mastered the skill of depicting the flickering of air and water, which remained unsurpassed in Estonian art during his lifetime.

[8] The Soviet authorities quickly realized his "dangerousness": exhibitions by the artist, who had already died by then, were among the first to be banned at the Tartu Art Museum in 1948.

[7] Contemporaries remembered Ormisson as a very kind-hearted, quiet, even reclusive person that opened up only in the company of close friends.

In the 1930s, Ormisson painted more Impressionistic landscapes, in which winter views of Tartu, full of peace and endlessly falling snow, hold a special place.

"[1][9] The peak achievement of Ormisson's late work is the 3 × 5 meter panel Pühajärv (Holy Lake) in the Vanemuine theater, completed in 1939.