Urmas Orgusaar (1944) has been active in Estonian leather and bookbinding since the late 1960s. In 1969 he graduated from the State Art Institute of ESSR and has been exhibiting since then. Today, the museum’s collection includes nearly 50 of his works, many of which are also on display in the permanent exhibition of applied art.

Orgusaar’s works from the 1970s are at the centre of this exhibition, revealing one of his strengths as an artist – the ability to give sculptural form to his work by using classical techniques like moulding.

As a young artist, Orgusaar entered the field of applied art at a time when it was breaking out of its focus on merely practical expression. Urmas Orgusaar turned to volumetric form in his quest, creating both boxes and bindings, skilfully transforming traditional objects into streamlined ones but also being one of the first to move on to the wall-plate format, hitherto unconventional in leather art.

Another technical take preferred by Orgusaar besides moulding is the contrasting, planar intarsia, where the flowing form is conveyed in a two-dimensional way and with the extreme precision characteristic to the technique.

Orgusaar’s early works from the 1970s are clearly distinctive in his own oeuvre as well as in Estonian leather art in general, and boldly non-traditional – supple organics, sparse, often vibrant red tones – a combination that has become a classic of Estonian applied art today.

In his later work, Orgusaar has often relied on found objects made of wood, stones and string, combining them to create a number of spatial compositions dating from the 1980s. He has also enjoyed drawing and painting, using charcoal drawing, pastel and watercolour, among other techniques. He has also been teaching at the Tallinn Art School for nearly half a century. 

A number of Urmas Orgusaar’s works exhibited here will be added to the museum’s collection.  

Text: Kai Lobjakas
Graphic design: Art Industria