Colourful Mägi
Review of the Konrad Mägi Sihtasutus hardcover (October 12, 2023)

"There are two paths for art to embrace life.
The convenient path is that of the mind, which embraces life only in its randomness, in its sad and foolish routineness.
The steep path leading over abysses is the path of the soul, for whom life is a deep sleep and a tormenting premonition of different relationships and different depths than the ones our pathetic minds are capable of penetrating." - Konrad Magi (1878-1925).

Author/Illustrator Joonas Sildre had a breakthrough success with Kahe heli vahel. Graafiline romaan Arvo Pärdist (2018) about the life & work of the world famous Estonian composer. That book has already been translated and published in several other languages. An English language edition Between Two Sounds: A Graphic Novel about Arvo Pärt is expected in 2024.

With Värviline Mägi. Graafiline romaan Konrad Mägist, Sildre has produced yet another intriguing and engrossing biography in graphic novel form covering the Estonian modernist painter who has been variously described as the Estonian Van Gogh, Estonia's Expressionist painter and as Estonia's greatest painter. To portray the life and work of Mägi, Sildre has expanded his palette to take in a wide world of colour, particularly in the panels which display the painter's imagination and creativity. There is even a nod to Sildre's earlier work on Pärt, with the occasional use of black musical dots representing sounds from bell towers (alluding to Pärt's trademark bell-like sounds of Tintinnabuli).

See painting at https://i.pinimg.com/originals/91/23/f3/9123f30ffffbcb3232943f11c8705990.jpg
"A Portrait of Konrad Mägi" (1908) by Nikolai Triik (1884-1940), used as the basis for the cover illustration. Image sourced from Pinterest.

Sildre has done considerable research about Mägi's life, work and travels in order to tell the story of the often wandering bohemian. The painter lived for extended periods in France and Norway especially, often in the company of fellow Estonian artists and writers, several of whom make cameo appearances throughout the book. A helpful portrait gallery appendix provides a key to identify characters such as author Friedebert Tuglas and fellow painter Nikolai Triik. An interesting inspiration to Mägi's work was in the area of mysticism and spiritualism, particularly from the influence of occultist & philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925).

Mägi's romantic life is somewhat more mysterious, with an anonymous "Parisian lover" and "St. Petersburg lover" making brief appearances. Towards the end of his painting career, dancer and model Ella Ilbak (1895-1997) was perhaps his greatest soul mate, at least as interpreted in Sildre's panels portraying their work-life and companionship.

See painting at https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbUmQiaW0AAgE6t?format=jpg&name=900x900
Model Ella Ilbak as painted in "Meditation: Landscape with a Lady" (1915-1916) by Konrad Mägi. Image sourced from Musée d'Orsay Twitter. See background at Konrad Mägi Foundation.

The end of Mägi's life is also somewhat mysterious, aside from his being institutionalized for an unidentified illness. Sildre provides a symbolic and artistic start and end to the painter's life journey with his spirit first emerging from and then finally submerging back into the waters of the cosmos.

My enthusiastic and kind thanks to Joonas Sildre for providing this copy of Värviline Mägi for review.

Soundtrack
The paintings of Konrad Mägi have been used for the cover art of 2 albums of compositions by Estonian composer Heino Eller.
See album cover at https://i.discogs.com/NFS5P6HYHLj1XkFKSZ9XiIORq84BGWfSgG4KvLq9VCg/rs:fit/g:sm/q:...
See album cover at https://i.discogs.com/g8VskbUVlz5ljUW6ps0nyfiGcUPzPAqffyu2LOOmDy4/rs:fit/g:sm/q:...
The paintings "On the Road from Viljandi to Tartu" (above) (1915-1916) and "Landscape with a Red Cloud" (below) (1913-1914) as cropped for CD album cover art by Ondine Records. Images sourced from Discogs.

Trivia and Links
There is a considerable listing of various informative sources and links about Konrad Mägi in both Estonian and English at the webpage of the Konrad Mägi Foundation. A number of documentary films (many with English subtitles) can be viewed at the Foundation's YouTube channel. ( )