{{Short description|Estonian printmaker and illustrator (born 1934)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}
{{Infobox artist | name = Herald Eelma | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1934|3|26|df=y}} | birth_place = Võhmuta, Järva County, Estonia | citizenship = Estonian | training = State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR (ERKI) | movement = Severe style | known_for = Printmaking and book illustration | awards = Kristjan Raud Art Award (1981, 1986)<br />Grand Prize, 5th Tallinn Print Triennial (1980)<br />Order of the White Star, 4th Class (1999) }}
'''Herald Eelma''' (born 26 March 1934) is an Estonian printmaker, book illustrator and art educator.<ref name="EKL2025">{{cite web |title=Õnnitleme Herald Eelmat! |url=https://www.eaa.ee/onnitleme-herald-eelmat |website=Eesti Kunstnike Liit |date=26 March 2025 |language=et |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref> He is regarded as one of the artists who renewed Estonian printmaking in the 1960s and 1970s and, together with Peeter Ulas, as a representative of the Estonian variant of the severe style.<ref name="ERR2019">{{cite news |last=Vilgats |first=Ester |title=Pärnus näeb läbilõiget graafik Herald Eelma loomingust |url=https://kultuur.err.ee/995106/parnus-naeb-labiloiget-graafik-herald-eelma-loomingust |work=ERR |date=24 October 2019 |language=et |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref><ref name="Endla2019">{{cite web |title=Herald Eelma isiknäitus „Avatud värav“ |url=https://www.endla.ee/teater/teatrigalerii/naituste-arhiiv |website=Endla Teater |language=et |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref> He is especially known for his illustrations for editions of A. H. Tammsaare's ''Truth and Justice'' and the ''Kalevala''.<ref name="Vabaduse2014">{{cite web |title=Herald Eelma. AEG |url=https://galerii.eaa.ee/vabaduse/?p=1765 |website=Vabaduse galerii |publisher=Eesti Kunstnike Liit |language=et |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref><ref name="Kalevala1985">{{cite web |title=Kalevala |url=https://www.digar.ee/arhiiv/en/nlib-digar%3A682047 |website=DIGAR |publisher=National Library of Estonia |language=en |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Eelma was born in Võhmuta in Järva County.<ref name="EKL2025" /> He graduated from Paide Secondary School in 1953 and then entered the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR, graduating in 1959 as a printmaker.<ref name="EKL2025" /> He joined the Estonian Artists' Association in 1961 and became one of its honorary members in 2004.<ref name="EKL2025" /><ref name="EKLHonorary">{{cite web |title=Honorary members |url=https://www.eaa.ee/en/honorary-members |website=Eesti Kunstnike Liit |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref>
==Career and work== After graduating, Eelma taught watercolour at the Estonian State Art Institute from 1960 to 1962 and then worked as a freelance artist until 1992.<ref name="EKL2025" /> In 1992 he joined Tallinn University of Arts as a lecturer in drawing, and from 1995 to 2000 he served as a professor and head of the drawing chair at the Estonian Academy of Arts.<ref name="EKL2025" /><ref name="Vabaduse2014" /> He also taught at the Varsinais-Suomen Kansanopisto in Paimio, Finland.<ref name="EKL2025" />
Eelma began exhibiting soon after graduation as both a printmaker and a book illustrator.<ref name="Endla2019" /> His diploma work, illustrations for ''Truth and Justice'', was already seen as an early demonstration of his individual artistic language.<ref name="Endla2019" /> Later exhibition and curatorial texts have characterised his work by generalized motifs, a clear and economical line, and a gradual shift from the human figure toward landscape and nature motifs.<ref name="Endla2019" /><ref name="Vabaduse2014" /> A Kumu Art Museum exhibition on 1970s Estonian graphics situated his work among the more subjective and surrealist tendencies in the medium.<ref name="Kumu2010">{{cite web |title=Personal and Public Space in 1970s Estonian Graphics |url=https://kumu.ekm.ee/en/syndmus/isiklik-ja-avalik-ruum-1970-aastate-eesti-graafikas/ |website=Kumu Art Museum |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref>
In 1972 Eelma was one of seven artists from Soviet Estonia included in ''Printmaking Today'', a satellite exhibition of the 36th Venice Biennale at Ca' Pesaro.<ref name="Soomre2012">{{cite journal |last=Soomre |first=Maria-Kristiina |title=Art, Politics and Exhibitions: (Re)writing the History of (Re)presentations |journal=Kunstiteaduslikke Uurimusi / Studies on Art and Architecture |volume=21 |issue=3/4 |year=2012 |pages=106–121 |url=https://ktu.artun.ee/articles/2012_3_4/ktu_21_3_106-121_soomre.pdf |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref> Art-historical scholarship has described that appearance as an unusual and important international presentation of Estonian printmaking during the Soviet period.<ref name="Soomre2012" />
Book illustration has remained a major part of Eelma's oeuvre.<ref name="Vabaduse2014" /> His principal illustrated books include editions of Tammsaare's ''Truth and Justice'' (1964–1969), Martti Haavio's ''Kalevala lood'' (1981), Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald's ''Põhja konn'' (1981), the Estonian-language ''Kalevala'' (1985), and ''Kalevalan kuvat'' (Oulu, 1987).<ref name="Vabaduse2014" /><ref name="KalevalaLood1981">{{cite web |title=Kalevala lood : Martti Haavio ümberjutustus lastele E. Lönnroti koostatud soome rahvuseeposest "Kalevala" |url=https://www.digar.ee/arhiiv/en/nlib-digar%3A948147 |website=DIGAR |publisher=National Library of Estonia |language=en |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref><ref name="PohjaKonn1981">{{cite web |title=Põhja konn : [muinasjutt] |url=https://www.digar.ee/arhiiv/nlib-digar%3A913233 |website=DIGAR |publisher=National Library of Estonia |language=et |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref><ref name="KalevalanKuvat1987">{{cite web |title=Kalevalan kuvat / Herald Eelma |url=https://helsinki.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay/alma992517543506253/358UOH_INST:VU1 |website=Helka |publisher=University of Helsinki Library |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref> Works from his ''Kalevala'' cycle are held in the collection of the Art Museum of Estonia.<ref name="EKMKalevala">{{cite web |title=Herald Eelma. Illustration for the Epic Kalevala. Canto XV |url=https://digikogu.ekm.ee/eng/new_category_tree/newwin-print/oid-35000 |website=Art Museum of Estonia Digital Collection |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref>
Eelma remained active into the 21st century. In 2014 he presented the retrospective exhibition ''Aeg'' in Tallinn, and in 2019 a survey exhibition, ''Avatud värav'', opened at Endla Theatre Gallery in Pärnu.<ref name="Vabaduse2014" /><ref name="Endla2019" />
==Honours== Eelma was named Merited Artist of the Estonian SSR in 1975 and People's Artist of the Estonian SSR in 1983.<ref name="Endla2019" /> He received the Grand Prize at the 5th Tallinn Print Triennial in 1980 for the lithograph ''House''.<ref name="TPT1980">{{cite web |title=1980 |url=https://www.triennial.ee/history/prizewinners/1980-2/ |website=Tallinn Print Triennial |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref> He also received the Kristjan Raud Art Award in 1981 and 1986, the Jaan Jensen Prize in 1982 and 1986, and the Order of the White Star, 4th Class, in 1999.<ref name="Vabaduse2014" /><ref name="WhiteStar1999">{{cite web |title=Riiklike autasude andmine |url=https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/77085 |website=Riigi Teataja |date=2 February 1999 |language=et |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref> In 2014 he was named Graphic Artist of the Year by the Association of Estonian Printmakers.<ref name="AastaGraafik2014">{{cite web |title=Aasta Graafik 2014 - Herald Eelma |url=https://estonianprintmakers.ee/et/aasta-graafik-2014-herald-eelma |website=Association of Estonian Printmakers |date=12 January 2015 |language=et |access-date=16 April 2026}}</ref>
==Selected illustrated books== * ''Tõde ja õigus'' (illustrated editions, 1964–1969)<ref name="Vabaduse2014" /> * ''Kalevala lood'' (1981)<ref name="KalevalaLood1981" /> * ''Põhja konn'' (1981)<ref name="PohjaKonn1981" /> * ''Kalevala'' (1985)<ref name="Kalevala1985" /> * ''Kalevalan kuvat'' (1987)<ref name="KalevalanKuvat1987" />
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eelma, Herald}} Category:1934 births Category:Living people Category:People from Järva Parish Category:Estonian printmakers Category:Estonian illustrators Category:Estonian Academy of Arts alumni Category:20th-century Estonian male artists Category:21st-century Estonian male artists Category:Academic staff of the Estonian Academy of Arts Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 4th Class