"I admire primitive art, medieval art, and naivism - magical, symbol-filled, and structural art. In graphics, I prefer color fields rather than the play of lines." Otto Paju, Mana, 1960 no.1
Otto Paju was born and raised in Rakvere, Estonia. In the winter of 1944, he fled compulsory recruitment to the German Luftwaffe and made his way to Finland in a small fishing boat. After many hardships and a bicycle ride through half of Finland, he crossed the Torne River to Sweden. In Stockholm, Otto Paju studied at Konstfack and continued his education at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm and Oslo.
For a long time, Otto Paju was very active in the Estonian exile cultural life in Stockholm and was responsible, among other things, for the Estonian Cultural Committee's cultural section and for the art exhibitions at the worldwide cultural festival ESTO in Stockholm in 1980. In addition, Otto Paju exhibited his own works in art exhibitions in Sweden, Germany, Finland, Canada, the USA, and Estonia after the regained freedom in 1991. Otto Paju's last exhibition took place at the Estonian House in Stockholm in 2013. A memorial exhibition in 2017 showed works selected by KUMU, the Art Museum of Estonia. These works are now located in the museum in Tallinn.
Stockholms Auktionsverk is pleased to present a collection of graphic works that depict how Otto Paju's artistic career has evolved over the years, from woodcuts where one can discern the sea, beach, and wind-blown pines to becoming increasingly abstract color fields.
