AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Aili Vint ( Sarv) was born in 1941, 25. April in Rakvere, Estonia.
1948-1950 Teachers' Seminary of Rakvere
1950-1958 Graduated from Secondary School of Rakvere
1962-1967 Studied at Institute of Art, (now EKA) Tallinn, Estonia
1964 -1970 Member of ANK’ 64
1967 — present is married to painter and writer Toomas Vint.
1970 Member of the Estonian Artists' Union
1970 — present Freelance artist
1970 Member of the USSR Artists' Union
1991 — 1996 Lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts
1991 present creative mentor to top leaders of the republic
WORKS IN MUSEUMS
Sudkovsky’s Seascapes Muuseum in Otšakiv, Ukraine
Tretyakov’s Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Tartu Art Museum, Tartu, Estonia
Kumu Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA
FILMOGRAPHY
Animated film "Flight" artist. Rein Raamat 1974 (3/4 jury special prize, II Zagrebi International Animated Film Festival. Croatia.)
Light Sculpture of Sunset 1995 https://arhiiv.err.ee/vaata/uks-pilt-aili-vint-skulptuur-paikeseloojangust
Estonian TV Estonian Art: Aili Vint 1998 https://arhiiv.err.ee/vaata/eesti-kunst-aili-vint
…and God created the woman ”Portraits of Aging. Channel 2, 2001
From person to person. Interview with Linnu Mägi. 2002, 08.
“Subboteja” program with A. Zukkermann about painting the lobby of the Haiba orphanage with the children of the orphanage. Channel 2, 2004, 10.
Starship Aili Vint ETV 2007 https://arhiiv.err.ee/vaata/tahelaev-aili-vint/same-series
Exchange of presenters of "Glasses Box": Tiina Park 2018
PRIZES
1994 Konrad Mägi prize, Estonia
1994 Town of Pärnu prize, Estonia
2002 Order of the White Star, Estonia
2015 Kristjan Raua prize, Estonia. The prize was given to me and my husband, an artist, Toomas Vint.
PEDAGOGICAL ACTIVITY SINCE 1991
1991 - 1996 Estonian Academy of Arts lecturer, a creativity mentor
1996 - 2002 Estonian Business School, creative know-how training for top leaders and businessmen
1999 - 2006 Estonian Euromanagement Institute, creativity mentor for a small business
Since 2012 TTÜ creative training for architects.
1971-2025 SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025 “Spiegel im Spiegel”, Dresden, Germany. Largest exhibition of Estonian art in Germany ever.
2025 “36th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts”. Ljubljana, Slovenia
2024 “Unicorn in the Magical Forest”. Niguliste Museum, Tallinn, Estonia (+ A Book “Unicorn in the Magical Forest).
2023 Exhibition of female graphics “Läbi su silmaterade musta kuru”. Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia
2021 “Woman & Sea” Viinistu Art Museum, Tynngallery, Viinistu, Estonia
2019 Open Collections. “The Artist Takes the Floor”. Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia
2018-2019 “Border Poetics” Estonian Art 1918 - 2019, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
2018 Kris Lemsalu and Aili Vint at Bozar, Brussels @bozarbrussels Belgium
2017 “Man & Woman”, MONA The Museum of New Art, Pärnu, Estonia
2014 Aili Vint's and Toomas Vint's exhibition: “Artist’s footprint”. Tallinn Art Hall, Estonia
2013 The artists group ANK – 64 Tallinn Art Hall, Estonia
2012 “CHA Roads & Tracks” Moscow International Art Salon, Russia
2010 “Popkunst Forever” Estonian Pop Art at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, Kumu ART Museum, Tallinn, Estonia
2002 The Baltics Museum of Rutgers University. New Jersey US
2001 Faulconer Gallery of Grinnell College, Iowa, USA
2000 ”Tallinn–Moscow 1956 — 1985” Joint exhibition of Estonian and Russian unofficial art. Tallinn Art Hall, Estonia
1995 “Retro. The Sun sets on & rises from the Art Hall”. Tallinn Art Hall, Estonia.. Light meditative sculpture and my first performance.
1995 “Osaka Sculpture Triennial”, Japan
1994 “Osaka Print Triennial”, Japan
1993 “Osaka Painting Triennial”, Japan
1993 “Substance — Unsubstance”. The 1st annual exhibition of the Soros Foundation, Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia.
1988, 1991 “Miniprint Triennial”, Chamalières France.
1987 “Art of Soviet Estonia”, Moscow, Russia
1987 “Rostock Painting Triennial”, Germany
1984 “Space and Form”, Art Hall, Tallinn
1983, 1986 “Riga Miniprint Triennial”, Latvia
1981, 1987 “Lodz Mini Print Triennial”, Poland
1977 “Exhibition: Aili and Toomas Vint” In Szecin, Poznan, Varssavi, Poland
1975, 1984 “Baltic Painting Triennial”, Vilnius, Lithuania
1972, 1997 “Cracow Graphic Art Biennial”, Poland
1971, 1980, 1983, 1989, 1995 “Tallinn Print Triennial”, Estonia
2010 —2019 SOME CATALOGS FROM EXHIBITIONS
2019 Catalog: “Border Poetics. Estonian Art 1918–2018” is an exhibition of the Art Museum of Estonia and the National Tretyakov Gallery, combining Estonian art of the last hundred years from the collections of the two museums.
2017, A Book “101 Eesti kunstiteost” (“101 pieces of Estonian Art”), publisher Varrak, Estonia
2014 Aili Vint and Toomas Vint “Artists footprint”, publisher Tulikiri, Estonia ISBN 978-9949-9362-3-6
2013 “The Artist Group ANK' 64” Tallinn Art Hall, Estonia
2013 “The Desire for Freedom Art in Europe since 1945”, 30th Council of Europe exhibition. Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin; Palazzo Reale, Milan; Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn. ISBN 978-3-942422-98-7
2012 “CHA Roads & Tracks”, Moscow International Art Salon, Russia
2010 “Popkunst FOREVER” Estonian Pop Art at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, Kumu ART Museum ISBN 978-9949-9086-3-9
SEA UNDER THE DARK SKY 1975,
oil on canvas 92 x 115 cm,
Kumu ART Museum
Dear Visitor! But you still don’t know why a little girl decided to become an Artist.
Because I promised!
I remember I was no longer a small child, when after all I found myself standing in front of the Real Sea. This Sea was incredibly open, and greyish-blue. I was fascinated by the Sea. She was smooth as a giant mirror, just like the heaven on the earth. I watched my feet through the water and wondered how an artist might paint the translucency of the Sea.
But suddenly I felt that it would be possible.
— Yes, I will be an artist! — I will paint!
BACK IN MY CHILDHOOD…
Visits to the seaside were rare, only on my father’s paydays and in the small yellow bus that was always crammed full of people. I was surrounded by a dense jungle of sweaty bodies. There was not enough air. I stood there, my nose pressed against my father’s coat pocket, into which I would throw up. That did not matter! The main thing was reaching the sea.
At midday, the Sun shone brightly in the sky, and the Sea was a deep, flawless blue. But early in the evening, something very strange would happen to the Sea…
Suddenly the world became unbelievably colorful. I watched, mesmerized, as the Sun picked sunset colors and started painting on the Sea. A powerful glow of colors was in front of me and behind me, above me and below me; I even felt it under my feet. At that moment I was sure that there is one painter who could paint like that.
I boasted to the other children: ”When I grow up I will paint a Sun so, so red hot, that when you look at it, you'll be dripping with sweat! I will be an artist! — I will paint!
Aili Vint ”Sea in Käsmu ” 1991 oli on canvas 150 x 175 cm author’s collection
BATHING IN THE SEA
Back in our dry and dusty hometown of Rakvere. During the hot summer days, we used to play a game of bathing in the Sea. One of us would close her eyes and the other would lead her from warm sunlight into a cold shadow. The one with the eyes closed had to sense the difference and quickly yell whether she was in the Sea or out of the Sea.
PAINTING FANTASIES WHILE WASHING DISHES
Back to daily routines again … Much to my Mother’s and Grandmother’s surprise, I began to enjoy doing the dishes. To my own surprise, even with enthusiasm. The plates I washed looked so picturesque and fascinating. Once, a transparent seabed appeared on the dish I was rinsing; another time, a deserted shoreline. I used my finger to trace a tiny piece of tomato skin toward the horizon, transforming it into a red sailboat with a puffed-up sail. I moved a single green parsley leaf onto the dish, making it a tiny island. I broke a white potato chip and turned it into a lazy, sandy beach on the shore.
Of course, I disliked washing dishes because we didn’t have a sink. First, I had to fetch water from the well and warm it up. Washing in one bowl, rinsing in another. The water cooled quickly and turned greasy. There was no Fairy dish soap either.
As an artist, one Christmas Eve, while tidying up the festive table, I looked at a dirty plate as if it were a painting. It reminded me how, as a child, I used to make dishwashing enjoyable. I would wipe with my finger along the shiny edge of a bright blue plate until it gleamed, as if a sky appeared. So pure and beautiful. I’d dip the plate briefly in water, tilt, and swirl it to create veins of color—then the Ocean was ready.
Listening to this story with special interest, my friend Anni would bring out the trump card: “See! You got your diagnosis: ARTIST!”
I agree.
But I think the main reason for becoming an artist is here:
When I was a child, there was a picture—a seascape with gigantic waves—hanging by my bed. It was like a fun toy for me, like a teddy bear for daytime naps. I remember how, at a daily bedtime, instead of going to sleep, I roamed on crests of the waves and slid down to the trough. In that stormy sea I had my own place to crawl into when I felt sleepy, and so I often dozed off in the embrace of the silky wave.
I dreamed that when I grew up, my painted sea would also be hanging somewhere on someone’s wall. But where exactly, I couldn’t imagine.
Now, more than 40 years later, in Ukraine, at the Tretyakov Gallery’s branch, my three nearly identical seascapes stand side by side with the works of the marine artist Ivan Aivazovsky. Now, our pictures sleep together in one room! May they be protected from war!
This picture by my bed was a small replica of The Ninth Wave (1850), by marine artist Ivan Aivazovski.
Ivan Aivazovsky “The Ninth Wave“ (1850) oil on canvas 221x232cm