2025 November 16 to 2026 January 31

EDUARD TIMBERMANN and GOLDEN AGE – a twin exhibition in Viljandi

From 15 November 2025, two interconnected exhibitions will open in Viljandi: the Kondas Centre presents an overview of the life and work of artist Eduard Timbermann (1905–1935), while the Viljandi Museum simultaneously opens a satellite exhibition entitled “Golden Age”, exploring Viljandi and its art scene in the 1920s and 1930s.

Although the name of Viljandi artist Eduard Timbermann has remained relatively unknown, he achieved a great deal in his short life. Timbermann studied at the Pallas Art School under Ado Vabbe, alongside Karl Pärsimägi, Karin Luts, Hilda Kamdron, Nikolai Kummits, Karl Liimand, Rudolf Sepp, and Juhan Kangilaski, and other artists who later gained recognition. Despite difficult circumstances, he completed his studies in 1930 and returned to Viljandi. Over the next five years, undeterred by his illness, Eduard Timbermann devoted himself to developing Viljandi’s art scene: he organised exhibitions, published art articles and travel writings, and gave lectures that helped audiences understand contemporary art and bring it closer to them. Together with like-minded companions, he founded the first art club in Viljandi, which brought together local creative people.

Works by members of the club initiated by Timbermann, including Lydia Nirk-Soosaar, Gustav Mootse, Juhan Kangilaski, Peeter Põldmaa (Akerberg) and Ants Murakin, from the extensive collection of Viljandi Museum, are displayed. The second part of the exhibition introduces the rapidly developing Viljandi of that time – the context and environment in which the young artists’ dreams took shape.

When the first art exhibition in Viljandi took place in 1909, and attempts were made to explain to people what art was and how it should be viewed, just twenty years later, the idea of opening an art museum in the city was already being considered. This twin exhibition aims to reflect the intellectual shift and the emergence of new ideas that took place within such a short period.

Like many creators of his generation, Timbermann’s life’s work remained unfinished, yet his efforts bear witness to a spirit that believed in art’s power to change the world. Through the discovery and rediscovery of artists who died young, we are reminded that creativity does not belong solely to its own time, but also to the future that is ready to embrace it anew.

The Eduard Timbermann exhibition at the Kondas Centre was curated by Mari Vallikivi and created in collaboration with the Art Museum of Estonia and the Tartu Art Museum. The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.

The curator of the exhibition at Viljandi Museum is Kristjan Mändmaa.

Opening events on 15 November in Viljandi:

13:00 Kondas Centre: exhibition “Eduard Timbermann 1905–1935”
14:00 Viljandi Museum: exhibition “Golden Age: Life/Art in Viljandi in the 1920s1930s”
15:00 Viljandi Museum: Lecture by Heiki Raudla on the turbulent 1930s in Viljandi