In 1949-m Hulot Sooster graduated from Tartu Art Institute (formerly the Higher Art School "Pallas"): there the professors studied in Europe since surrealist revolution, the views were great, Western mores. Three best graduates "Pallas" was supposed to go to practice in Paris, Berlin or Rome. The first student Hulot Sooster not willing to reconcile with the fact that in Soviet Estonia is nothing no one believes: first he simply demanded by fellow students abroad internships, and then they decided to hijack a plane to Sweden, to move from there to France or Italy. They were twenty small - boys. In general, instead of Paris, he was under Karaganda, receiving 25 years of correctional labor for the 58 th article. In the camps, he spent seven of the released him forty-six years of life. Learn Russian and met her, "anti-Soviet" Lydia Sergi. Vernissage combined with the presentation of the book of memoirs of Lydia Sooster "I'm from the streets Krasin, lavishly Illustrated works of her husband.
This strange memories, quite similar to the camp prose Eugenia Ginzburg or Elena Glinka. Strikingly optimistic. No, Lydia Sooster, otbyvshey the zone and in the references, a total of ten years (the best years - she was taken away as an American spy of the last class of the school), had no illusions about the regime of an effective manager. But while virtually every page of the book cries out that the writer has developed a happy life, because - except for a few scoundrels-screws - it is all the time are among the remarkable and interesting people: actors, musicians, writers and artists. Even the thieves have it in their own artistry. Not Karlag, and "World of Art" of some kind. And much of their basement on the street Krasin, who became one of the main cultural centers of Moscow, informal, and does look like the Platonic Academy. I could not help thinking that this portrayed in dozens of soosterovskih portraits and nude dusky beauty with a mop of curly hair, with a structure and shape of the Greek goddess, was for him - with that of its impregnable optimism - salvation. Because they collectively managed to create around himself the appearance of such a rich intellectual and artistic climate of Europe, which Hulot Sooster in the Khrushchev-Brezhnev Moscow is clearly not enough.
Freed in 1956, he was trying to return to Estonia, but it was a completely different country. Settled in Moscow, the home of his wife, where the very least flickered some informal artistic life. Here he soon became not only the authority and prestige among the authorities: Yuri Sobolev-Nolev and Ilya Kabakov, who all looked in her mouth, in turn, looked in his mouth that talked incoherently in Russian man. They tried to attach to the sustenance in the book drawing - at the exhibition gathers many illustrations, in which he, according to Ilya Kabakov, never learned any kompromissnichat, no moonlight. Underground took this alien plant, torn from their native soil, with respect and compassion. After all, if local nonconformists were inoculated contemporary Western art in small doses, through a few ottepelnye exhibition hall and a coffee Foreign women, it was Hulot Sooster offshoot of another culture and slowly wasting away without feeding.
The camp Pictures Sooster Hulot - this protracted postgraduate practice - a distinguished academic training school is not the Russian school. Impressionistic modeling forms with one touch - no lines, contour drawing, sometimes reminiscent of Picasso's neo-classical, and sometimes - Max Beckmann. Even realism - in the portraits of convicts, who sometimes made to order, five rubles thing - he's not ours, hysterically-critical, peredvizhnichesky, but rather German, impassively objectivistic coming from Adolf Menzel.
The two dozen gathered at an exhibition of paintings (for Russia this is a real rarity - after the death of Hulot Sooster widow donated most of his works to museums of Tartu and Tallinn) show that have been separated from the western tradition it is - miraculously - has continued to evolve in its bed. Portrait of father in law - a person, as if carved by some black lines on the dirty-gray background - shows that from the expressionism of Parisian high school, he went to Haydn, from Georges Rouault - to Jean Dubuffet. A pair of clean, does not mediated by any subject of abstractions - that of Dubuffet, he moved toward informel and, perhaps, by Jackson Pollock. But then focused on three subjects - the egg, fish, juniper - that is infinitely varying them, build their metaphysical model of the world. Again, this surreal organic has nothing to do with the Russian avant-garde, Pavel Filonov and Michael Matyushin. Rather visited Paul Klee, Max Ernst or Wols. In short, when in 1962 the Manege party art critics pointed to Nikita Sergeyevich at unearthly landscapes and metaphysical eggs Hulot Sooster as something profoundly anti-Soviet, they, in fact, were quite right.
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1319676
_______________________________________________
Hulot-Ilmar Iogannesovich Sooster, painter and graphic artist, born in 1924 on the island of Hiiumaa, in the village Yuhtri Kyaynaskogo County, on the farm Pende.
In 1948 he graduated from the State Art Institute in the city of Tartu.
December 28, 1949, was arrested and convicted under Article 581-a period of ten years. Time served near Karaganda, Branch Dolinka, Karlag camp.
Released under the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 24 March 1956.
Hulot was arrested along with a group of close-minded students who dreamed of after graduation probation in Paris or Italy.
Yulo was confident that he will definitely go for an internship abroad, but the trip never took place. The Soviet government eliminated that possibility. In this regard, students pursued debates, drawing and posted the cartoons. For this and took it. They accused the group is that they have, ostensibly, was the plane on which they were going to fly to Paris.
There were five of us. Five artists: Valdur Ohakas, Esther Roode, Henn Roode, Heldur Viyres, Hulot Sooster. Among them there was no one who managed to at least bring the aircraft to the airfield. Everyone - the term of ten years, treason.
Our age is woven from the incredible stories and lived fate, events that never should have happened. But history decided otherwise. We all ended up in a swirling spiral spring of this century. So in my life unbelievable happened. Could I, the Moscow Jewish girl, to assume that will pass through the camp, deprivation, the nightmares and sorrows together and fall in love with a man whom I would not have met under different circumstances. However, like everything else in this crazy age, it happened exactly what happened. Try from the beginning.
Reading lesson
My first impression of the exterior Hulot was very flattering. He says not very clearly, probably from the excitement, rashristanny view, dangling cords on unpolished shoes, torn, scorched clothing. At long, not very well-groomed chestnut hair, tattered, once-elegant, blue beret. The only good impression produced amazingly beautiful sky-blue innocent eyes.
It seemed to me that he was to me a strange look. I turned away from him.
When we finished execute the exposure of our achievements, we grew weak at home, at camp.
Meeting with Hulot, I completely forgot. But a week later I got a letter explaining in love. "I thought that I forget you, but, unfortunately, I can not. Your image haunts me day and night" - wrote Hulot. Who gave me this piece of drawing paper with a ragged outpourings of love, I asked the postman. "I do not know - he said - a young man."
Then I started receiving letters with a postcard-charming drawings, spiritualized his pen or pencil. Dreams, dreams, dreams in every line of the connection, about the suffering of men, long and hard living away from the women's society.
Soon letters began to arrive daily. Our camp was very interested in this correspondence. After working all prisoners quickly washed, dressed and ran to dinner, where we waited for oatmeal soup and began reading aloud from my novel in letters. I read his companions letters which now come in the mail. Hulot wrote to me about his love of the outbreak, about his dreams of our freedom. I read these letters to all our reckless disadvantaged women. They were happy that I deliver to them this pleasure. Readings continued for a long time, my confidence has passed all bounds of decency, when I resolved to consider the intimate pictures, which Hulot draw for both of us. Suddenly everything stopped. Day two, week - no letters. Everything went dark in our area. The girls began to speed me that we should go to Dolinky and find out what is going on. Yes, and I'm very bored, when to stop the flow of worship. Even my boss cultural and educational part of the Nina, felt sympathetic and allowed me to go to Dolinky in the House of Education, to bring books to our library.
Upon arriving, I went upstairs to the studio, where he worked Hulot. Seeing me, he turned pale, his hands trembling and stammering, he told me that he heard rumors that I read his letters throughout the camp. He said that it is unworthy of me. "I succumbed to your charms, I love you madly, but I'm forcing myself to throw your way out of his heart, from his life. I will not allow to laugh at himself," - said Hulot.
I admit that this performance frightened me. I was so confident of his love. I told him that this is all gossip that someone just wants to embroil us. I said something else. I felt so sorry for him. We made it up, and I again began to receive messages, but had to stop reading.
Sooster LI My Sooster. - Tallinn: Avenarius, 2000. - 176 pp.