Ilmar Ojalo (1910 – 1989)

Ilmar Ojalo was born in 1910 in Simitica. He entered the Tallinn city humanitarian school for boys, after which he went to the navy. In 1931 he entered the Technical University of Tallinn, and then transferred to the Prague Polytechnic University, where he studied until 1936. To develop artistic skills, he additionally receives an education at the Art School in Helsinki.
For the first time he opens his exhibition in Finland in 1939, and a year later he holds another one in Estonia. From 1945 to 1950 he worked as a restorer at the Tartu Art Museum. In 1951, he was arrested for cartoons that he published during the Nazi occupation, for which he received a term in the Vyazalemmskaya colony.
After his release in 1955, Ilmar got a job as a restorer in a Tallinn workshop. In 1961, he got a job as an architect-designer, and later as a teacher.
Ilmar is a person with a wide range of interests. In addition to drawing, he was engaged in art history, participated in cultural studies, was a member of the Psychological Society of the Soviet Union as a parapsychologist. He even published a brochure “What is the music of color?” and lectured.
The central role in the work of Ilmar Ojalo is urban landscapes. His paintings have always been distinguished by fresh motifs and laconic composition. Online sale of paintings by the Estonian artist is presented in the Rios Art Gallery.