Kristjan Teder

Kristjan Teder (1901–1960) was a painter often described with terms such as “naïve,” “gardener-painter,” “flower painter,” or “a man on the periphery of the art world.” Yet behind these somewhat dismissive labels stands a person with a vivid, multifaceted life, a complete character, and a distinctive artistic voice. Having lived through a complex and contradictory historical and art historical era, Teder emerged as a character tempered aesthetically, intellectually, and philosophically. Behind the seemingly simple, unassuming form and subdued colour palette of his floral paintings lies a sincere, unpretentious, and life-affirming wisdom, free of false ambition.