Kangro, Tauno

In 1984, Tauno Kangro graduated from secondary school No. 20 in Tallinn .

In order to avoid being drafted into the army and possibly getting into the Afghan war , Tauno enrolled in the Tallinn Technical School with a specialization in potter- stonemason. The Art Institute could save the army from fulfilling military duties , but lack of ability to draw hindered admission: in the sculpture studio of the Tallinn House of Pioneers (now the Kullo Interest Center in Tallinn Leuvenru Park), where Tauno went as a teenager, they did not learn to draw. However, just at that time, it was decided to liquidate technical schools, equating them with vocational schools . This meant that young men studying in technical schools, including Tauno, were among the potential recruits of the military commissariat . At the medical board, the last doctor to examine Tauno was a female psychiatrist, Dr. Palwar, who immediately asked if he wanted to join the army or not. Tauno honestly answered that he didn’t want, but to the question: “What do you want then?” He told the doctor about his dream to enter an art institute and create large bronze and granite sculptures . After such a story, the doctor recognized him as mentally unfit for military service, claiming that if a person like Tauno was given a weapon , he would shoot some colleague. Later it turned out that Dr. Palvar offered her services to the military commissariat precisely in order to save the boys with creative inclinations from military service ^[1] .

From 1976 to 1984, Tauno Kangro studied at the sculpture workshop of the artist Kalyu Reitel in Tallinn, then, from 1986 to 1993 , at the sculpture department at the Estonian Academy of Arts .

From 1992 to 1999 he taught drawing at the 32nd secondary school in Tallinn and at the College of Education of the Old Town .

In his works, the sculptor uses a lot of stone and metal, according to his words, an incredibly powerful force lies in them, and this material is especially close to him as the most correct material for the embodiment of the characters of Estonian epics , as well as mythical and magical characters.

At the end of May 2016, the master celebrated his fiftieth anniversary with the large exhibition “The Mighty Power of Stones and Metals” ^[2] at Vabaduse Square in Tallinn. Especially for this event, a huge glass pavilion was built with chandeliers and a red carpet. The location of the exhibition was not chosen by chance. Tauno Kangro really likes the architecture of Vabaduse Square, and for him the fact that the Estonian epos Kalevipoeg will “plow on this field” was important. Part of the exhibition was exhibited in the Jaani Church , where one could get acquainted with the religious characters of the sculptor. If the ballerinas at the age of fifty have long been retired, then, according to Kangro, the artist had only matured by that time and there was still much to be done ahead in terms of creativity.

Engaged in patronage ^[3] . In 2011, he was awarded the Tallinn Certificate of Appreciation and the title “Long-term Sponsor ” for sponsorship . A multi-year sponsor is an individual or legal entity that for five consecutive years has been among the “gold” or “silver” sponsors . “Gold sponsors ” are individuals who donate to the city or city institution or fund in cash or non-monetary terms from 6400 euros , and legal entities whose donations exceeded 12 800 euros. For “silver sponsors ”, these amounts are between 3200 euros and 6400 euros, respectively.

He was a member of the Center Party of Estonia from May 2006 to April 2012 ^[4] . On April 26, 2012, an article by reporter Madis Jürgen was published on the Estonian portal Delphi , in an interview with which Tauno Kangro said that his entry into the Center Party was under pressure from the then chairman of the Tallinn City Council Elmar Sepp , threats of deprivation of an apartment and a workshop in the Old Town and a promise to receive comprehensive assistance in his endeavors if he becomes a party member (at the time of the interview, Elmar Sepp was already serving a prison sentence). ^[5] Tauno Kangro wrote his application for joining the party with a heavy heart and after leaving the party considers himself no less guilty of the situation than Elmar Sepp ^[6] .

In 2007, Kangro created an enterprise for the execution of orders for the manufacture of sculptural works - the unitary partnership “SkulptuuriGalerii OÜ” ^[7] . The enterprise has a training class, a studio, workshops, a gallery-salon and a large exhibition hall, the company employs 15 people. Orders in bronze are placed at a factory near Tallinn, granite is usually purchased in Finland .

Tauno Kangro is twice married. He has six children: five daughters (three from his first wife) and a son. The second wife, Yana, in February 2004 gave birth to Tauno twins: a boy and a girl ^[8] The sculptor first saw Heliiz's daughter in 2008 , when she was 12 years old. She and her mother, a drawing teacher, lived in the small Estonian town of Võru . Now the adult daughter works with her father in one studio. ^[9]

Tauno also draws in pastel . Favorite characters of his drawings are nude models and various animals.

The grotesquely naive work of Tauno Kangro has both admirers and detractors. In particular, Estonian art critic Marie Kartau spoke of his sculptures as follows: “Many of them are very ugly, and the larger they are, the uglier”. ^[10]

Tauno loves flowers very much and, according to him, gives them to women every day, and not just March 8th . The sculptor’s house has a large collection of cacti that one of his friends gives him for every birthday. Tauno dislikes only lilies because of their strong smell and red carnations . ^[eleven]

The visual “ visiting card ” of the sculptor, by which he is recognized already from afar, was his clothes: he constantly walks in a leather beige- red or dark brown frock coat and a leather beret . When asked why he dresses like this, Tauno answered: “Why not? Stylization for folk clothes. This is my daily outfit, and it works well for the image and is well cleaned. I have ten of these. ” ^[12]

• 1992 - sculpture “Rhino” (lobby of the insurance company ERGO, Tallinn ) ^[13]
• 1995 - sculptural composition “Resting” ( Toompark , Tallinn ) ^[14]
• 2001 - sculpture “The Spirit of a Good City” ( Jõgeva , House of Culture)
• 2002 - sculptural composition “ Big Tull and Piret got a good catch” ( Saaremaa island, Estonia) ^[15]
• 2002 - sculpture “The Bull” ( Rakvere ) ^[16]
• 2002 - sculpture “A Pensive Man” ( Myannipark , Mustamäe , Tallinn ) ^[17]
• 2002 - sculptures “A moment before a kiss” and “A moment after a kiss” ( Musimyagi , Tallinn, installed in 2007)
• 2005 - sculpture "Mustamäe Beauty" ( Mustamäe , Tallinn)
• 2005 - bas-relief of Ferdinand Veike , creator and artistic director of the Estonian State Puppet and Youth Theater “NUKU” (1/3 Lai Street, Tallinn)
• 2006 - sculptural composition “Plowing Kalevipoeg ” (Sipruze Park, Põltsamaa , Estonia) ^[18]
• 2010 - sculpture “Happy chimney sweep” ( Karyaviarava Square , Tallinn) ^{[19] [20]}
• 2011 - sculpture "Cow" ( Viru street , 22, at the restaurant "GoodwiN") ^[21] . Another option for Cows, at GoodwiN Steak House, is located in Helsinki . ^[22]
• 2011 - monument “ Kihnu Jõnnu ” (yacht club Pärnu )
• 2014 - The Baltic Chain memorial plaque (Aisa 39, Pärnu ) ^[23]
• 2015 - sculpture “Domovoy Yuss” (shopping center “Viimsi”, Viimsi ) ^[24]
• 2015 - Maardu Lovers, Maardu ^[25]

The hero Suur Tull (Big Tull) is one of the symbols of the Estonian island of Saaremaa . There are many legends about him. It is believed that the island of Saaremaa itself is the body of the hero, and the island of Muhu is the head that the hero lost in the battle with the unclean giant Ghana-Pagan. The sculpture, which is located in front of the Mary Spa Hotel, depicts the Big Rear and his wife Piret. Tradition says that the land of the Saaremaa Peninsula of Syrve was sweet to Tõllu, through it lay the shortest road he found to the island of Ruhnu , where he had a cabbage garden . And when Tyll’s wife Piret started a fire under the cauldron, Tyll stepped on the sea road and managed to get there and back in half an hour, bringing Piret cabbage in time for the moment when the water began to boil.

The sculpture of the bull was installed on Vallimägi hill near the castle above Rakvere in 2002 on the 700th anniversary of the city and became its symbol. The bull stands on a large pedestal, on which are engraved the names of those who helped in this costly project and the coat of arms of Rakvere. The place was not chosen by chance. According to legend, the head of a bull once fell here, and the ancient Ests called this place Tarvas, which meant “head of the tour”. According to another folk legend, the rubbing of the sexual characteristics of the largest animal sculpture in the Baltic states promises sexual health to those who mourn. The bull is 7.1 meters long and 3.5 meters high (with a granite base - 5 meters). The distance between the horns is 3.4 meters. Weight is approximately 7000 kg. This is the largest animal statue in the Baltic countries .

In the sculpture “The Cow”, Tauno Kangro decided to perpetuate the most popular breed in Australia, Aberdeen Angus, whose relatives in the “Australian” restaurant are also eating.

On the territory of the Pärnu Yacht Club there is a monument to the legendary captain Kihnu Jynn. His story is as follows. In 1848, on the Estonian island of Kihnu in the village of Rootsiküla, Ann Uuetoa was born, nicknamed Kihnu Jynn. From childhood, the boy was friends with the sea and from a simple guy from a tiny island became a real "sea wolf." All his education - three days at the Paldiski Marine School, received the captain’s certificate as a practitioner with extensive experience in accident-free navigation by sea. Yunn undertook to lead the most fragile vessels into the most desperate storms , and luck always accompanied him. “If the ship is good, then the sea will growl under its keel,” said the captain (this statement was engraved by Tauno Kangro on the monument to Kihnu Jynn in Pärnu ). Johan Smuul wrote a book about this captain, and Yuri Yarvet played the role of Wild Captain in the film of the same name ( 1971 ). The captain’s grave is located in the only cemetery of Kihnu island. The captain died in a storm on November 19, 1913 off the coast of Denmark . His remains returned to their homeland only in 1992 .

The memorial plaque dedicated to the Baltic Chain was opened on the 25th anniversary (2014) of one of the biggest events of the period of the struggle for the restoration of state independence of Estonia in Pärnu at 39 Aisa Street, where the idea of ​​holding it was born. The “Baltic Way”, during which a living chain of people was formed from Tallinn through Riga to Vilnius , was carried out in memory of the treaty between the USSR and Hitler Germany , signed by that time 50 years ago, which had condemned the absorption of the Soviet Union and the three Baltic states. This is the largest rally ever held jointly by three peoples, and in general the largest peaceful protest in the history of Europe . It is included in the UNESCO Memory of the World program.

In July 2015, on the day of the celebration of its 35th anniversary, a small town near Tallinn, Maardu declared itself as a city where there is a place for romance. It turns out that in these parts there were Romeo and Juliet , with which there is a legend about the foundation of Maardu Manor . The culmination of the holiday was the discovery in the city of a bronze sculpture by a Maardu lover, created by Tauno Kangro. They say that once a young Baroness tried to tear apart, who settled on a manor near Lake Maardu, but to no avail.

A miniature of Kangro’s work can be seen in his city workshop ^[26] , and large forms or, as Tauno himself says, monuments are stored in his country house (Granite Villa ^[27] ) in Letts . The vast premises of the Granite Villa serve not only as a home for the sculptor and his family. There is also a workshop, and part of the premises of the second floor serves as guest rooms. Most of the ground floor is occupied by the hall, which is hung with paintings and small forms (small sculptures) of the master. In the vast hall, concerts of various artists are often held, which anyone can visit.

Kangro made three swords with handles of oak , planted in Tallinn by Peter I , one of them - especially for St. Petersburg - presented to Valentina Matvienko as a gift. According to the author, the sword with the names of all the city governors of the Northern capital over the course of three centuries should become a symbol of the wise management of St. Petersburg and be passed on to subsequent governors ^[28] .

Since 1992, Tauno Kangro held 26 personal exhibitions at home and 33 abroad, in particular, in Finland, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, France, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, China, Poland, Belarus and Russia . He also participated in twenty-one joint exhibitions.

• “I don’t suffer from delusions of grandeur and I don’t think that the value of a work depends on its size, just every artist has his own format. And my format is large: I am a monumentalist in spirit. ” ^[one]
• "There is nothing to be done: if you order seven meters from Kangro, you will receive all twelve." ^[one]
• “The two valuable skills that I have are the ability to work and the ability to choose friends.” ^[one]
• “Everyone should be able to cope with themselves. If he cannot cope with himself, this is either his fault or the real reason: war, laziness, drunkenness. One of the reasons artists cannot deal with themselves is envy and bitterness. Vodka and pills will not help. I would suggest a positive attitude to life. ” ^[29]
• “There are embittered people in every profession. Undoubtedly, the percentage of suicides and emotional burnout among artists is one of the highest ... The artist always doubts himself. An artist should always look for his own path. This is a very nervous and unstable profession . ” ^[29]
• “In general, I love all the flowers, but I am not a supporter of these bouquets, which are wrapped in colorful paper. They are rumored to be liked only by Russians and drunk Finns. ” ^[eleven]
• “My heart hurts a little for“ Happy chimney sweep ”- he is too small. The growth of the chimney sweep is 1 meter 17 centimeters. And the tubercle made underneath is too small. ” ^[thirty]
• “A poisonous red nose and a clownish, clownish flabby face with beautiful shapes. But seriously - you need to think ... "(answer to the question of an Estonian journalist, would he make a sculpture of Yeltsin if he were ordered to). ^[thirty]
• About the Victory Monument in the War of Independence : “I had a completely ready sketch - the“ Source of Freedom ”starting on the Harju hill and from both sides people like in the Baltic chain . But he did not meet the conditions of the competition. As for this glass cross , I could do the same five times cheaper from black granite . He would deliver black granite from Finland , polish it, and he would stand forever. ” ^[thirty]
• “ Pigs are very good because you can play with forms and put emotions into sculpture. Interestingly, people recognize themselves in funny pigs and identify with these animals. They come in, stop and say: “Oh, that's me.” ^[12]
• “ Tsereteli is not a Russian artist, he is an adherent , I would say, of an aggressive Georgian-Jewish style ... But 95% of the sculptures that I see in Moscow are his. “I agree in Tbilisi to see his style, but not in Russia ... Tsereteli sold his soul.” ^[12]
• “Love for a child does not begin at the moment when he is born, but when he is still in the stomach of the future mother, and it is very pleasant to observe this relationship, this contact.” ^[31]

The largest bronze sculpture in the Baltics - a statue of Kalevipoeg 21 meters high - was originally supposed to appear in the Gulf of Tallinn in the second half of 2009 . The city decided to erect a sculpture of Kalevipoeg back in 2005 , and on January 26, 2007, Tauno Kangro's work “Kalevipoeg Returns Home” won the competition for ideas for this project. ^[32] According to the commission, the other two works submitted to the competition did not meet the conditions of the competition. As a result, the commission decided that the prize for the first place in the amount of one hundred thousand crowns would not be awarded. For the work “Kalevipoeg Returns Home” Kangro was awarded the second place prize of 70 thousand Estonian kroons.

Kangro then noted that he would need at least three years to create the sculpture. The monument was planned to be erected on the hill of Maaryamäe , opposite the Orlov castle (built in 1874 at the behest of Count Anatoly Vladimirovich Orlov-Davydov ). The surface part of the statue, for which the sculptor was responsible , was estimated at 53 million Estonian kroons (approximately 340 thousand euros) in 2009, while the cost of the entire project was not known at all. To address issues related to the creation of sculpture, Tauno Kangro created the non-profit association “Kalevipoeg returns home” ( MTÜ “Kalevipoja kojutulek” ).

However, the installation project of the sculpture froze for many years. For a long time it was not clear where the money would come from in order to establish in the bay a huge figure of Kalevipoeg holding a boat with people in his hands. In addition, immediately after the announcement of the results of the competition, the artists began the fight against the installation of the Kalevipoega Kangipoega in the Baltic Gulf, claiming that the sculpture is artistically bad and not suitable in an urban context. ^[33]

According to the sculptor Jaak Soans , created by Tauno Kangro Kalevipoeg - a legless national hero, kneeling in humiliation before the memorial to Soviet soldiers [approx. after the restoration of independence of Estonia, this memorial on Maaryamäe is in disrepair].

“Author Tauno Kangro spoke repeatedly about Kalevipoeg, knee-deep in the sea, returning home and bringing happiness to his people. Unfortunately, the fact that the Kalevipoeg, carried out according to the current plans, will never reach either the house or the shore, since it is concreted into the seabed - in other words, will forever remain a captive of the sea, winds and ice, is lost, ”wrote Yaak Soans on the opinion page in the newspaper Eesti Päevaleht. - Kangro believes that Kalevipoeg returned from a round-the-world trip home (according to the epic, it is about traveling to the ends of the world) and brought people from other countries with him - I don’t think that these are Chinese or Negroes , rather, foreign Estonians . In fact, these frightened little people are on his lap in a sauceboat resembling a boat . ”

“There is reason for fear, because Kalevipoeg, bent and bowed, with his gaze fixed on the ground, carries them as a tribute directly to the Maaryamäe memorial, as if sacrificing them to the heroic Russian soldiers , invaders , from whom the foreign Estonians who had once fled Kalevipoeg is now forcibly dragging back, ”concluded Jaak Soans.

Many citizens also did not support either the gloomy, roughly hewn project of Kangro, or the very idea of ​​a multi-meter figure towering into the sea.

In the spring of 2016, MTÜ Kalevipoja kojutulek submitted an official petition for the construction of a monumental sculpture to the Technical Supervision Department, which implied that in cooperation with the city of Tallinn in the Gulf of Tallinn, 100 meters from the coast, it is planned to install a Kalevipoeg sculpture with a height of 23.6 meters along with related ice barriers and marine electrical cable. The depth of the sea at the site of the proposed installation is about a meter, and it was assumed that people could reach the sculpture by water. At the request, Kangro noted that the fate of the sculpture has been decided for 19 and a half years, and that during this time the technology has improved, and now it is possible to make the sculpture easier and more durable - from two-component polyurethane coated with metal. ^[34]

The Board of the Department of Technical Oversight voted against the project. Prior to this, the Tallinn City Planning Department , the Department for the Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments and the Tallinn Culture Department also spoke out against. ^[35]

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