Exhibition "Eveline von Maydell's Life Full of Colors"

National Archives Traveling Exhibition
Eveline von Maydell's Art "Life Full of Colors"

In the temporary exhibition hall of the Koidula Museum from March 8th

Eveline Adelheid von Maydell (formerly Frank) was a Baltic German artist best known as a silhouette artist. She was born in 1890 in Tehran and moved with her family to Pärnu around 1900. Eveline studied art in Riga, attended as a non-degree student at the St. Petersburg Art Academy, and in 1912–1913 at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. In 1918, she moved with her husband Guido von Maydell to Germany, where she presented her work in galleries and art shops. 

After her husband's death in 1934, Eveline often stayed for extended periods in Estonia. In 1935, her exhibition of paper cuttings took place at the Tallinn Art Hall, and in the same year, she created a silhouette of Konstantin Päts. In 1939, the artist decided to stay permanently in Estonia but had to leave again due to the Soviet Union's occupation starting in August 1940, boarding one of the last ships sent to evacuate American citizens. Before leaving, she donated her personal archive, including hundreds of photos, letters, and paper cuttings to the Estonian Art Museum, from where they later reached the National Archives.

Thanks to the mediation of Baltic German historian Gert von Pistohlkors, the National Archives received a valuable addition in 2023: a donation of nearly fifty of von Maydell's watercolors. All these works, mainly depicting flowers, come from Maydell's post-World War II creative period, which was almost unknown in Estonia until now.

The exhibition "Life Full of Colors" consists of the donated watercolors and earlier paper cuttings for which she is most known as a silhouette artist. The masterfully cut, lace-like silhouettes or paper cuttings surprise with their details and composition. She portrayed ladies, gentlemen, children, and pets as well as well-known cultural and social figures.

Exhibition organizers: Tiina-Mall Kreem and Astri Schönfelder
Graphic designer: Einike Leppik