Enn Põldroos
Enn Põldroos (b. 21. V 1933) is a painter and monumental artist, digital graphic artist, author, former chairman of the Estonian Artists’ Union and a member of parliament.
Põldroos was born in Tallinn. From 1952 to 1958 he studied painting at the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR, and in 1959 joined the Estonian Artists’ Union. Thereafter he was a lecturer at the Tallinn Pedagogical Institute (1961-1966) and later also at the State Art Institute / Estonian Academy of Art (1973-1985 and 1994-1995). From 1985 to 1989 and from 1995 to 1998 he was chairman of the Estonian Artists’ Union. Since 1998 he has been a freelance artist. He is a member of the Estonian Writers’ Union since 2003.
As a writer Põldroos has become widely known in the years since 2000. He has written both memoirs and stories and novels. Before 2000 he produced a book about the painter Olev Subbi (in 1981). In 2002 Põldroos won third place in the novel competition run by the Estonian Writers’ Union with his novel Joonik kivi (‘The Striped Stone’). As in his pictorial art, Põldroos loves strong colours, contrasts and paradoxes in his written work too. In the novel Absalon ehk veel üks Põrgupõhja Vanapagan (‘Absalon, or another Satan of Hell’s Bottom’), which appeared in 2011, the author brings Tammsaare’s honest-minded successor to the devil to live in contemporary Estonia. In the novel Circletown, which came out in 2018, Põldroos creates a modern dystopia. Põldroos’ volumes of memoirs are characterised by a confessional honesty in acknowledging the experiences of his personal life.
In 2002 Enn Põldroos was awarded the Order of the National Coat of Arms, Class IV, and in 2006, Class III. In 2014 he was given the Estonian National Lifetime Achievement Award for Culture.
L. P. (Translated by C. M.)
Books in Estonian
Novels
Joonik kivi. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2003. 129 lk.
Kinnituisanu: pseudokrimka. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2005. 141 lk.
Absalon ehk Veel üks Põrgupõhja Vanapagan. Tallinn: Kunst, 2011. 179 lk.
Circletown. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2018. 111 lk.
Stories
Öö rüütel. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2002. 132 lk.
Prügi seadus. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2004. 198 lk.
Silm veresoonega: pseudomuinasjutud. Tallinn: E. Põldroos, 2006. 181 lk.
Essays
Ma kujutlen. Tartu: Ilmamaa, 2015. 270 lk.
Memoirs
Mees narrimütsiga. Tallinn: Kunst, 2001. 281 lk.
Art studies
Traditsiooni uudsus: Olev Subbi. Tallinn: Kunst, 1981. 63 lk. [Reproduktsioonide album.]
