(b Tallinn, 1942). Estonian printmaker. He was a design student at the Estonian SSR State Art Institute in Tallinn (1962–7) when he first came to prominence as the leader and theorist of ANK ’64, a group of nonconformist student artists, formed in response to the suffocating conditions of Soviet culture. In his flat, Vint held seminars on modern art and a broad range of theoretical interests, from oriental philosophy to Jungian archetypal theory and semiotics. These private gatherings incurred the wrath of officials, who harassed Vint and limited his professional opportunities. Nevertheless, as editor of Kunst, Estonia’s principal art publication, Vint played a countervailing role against officialdom. He encouraged a rediscovery of the indigenous avant-garde, particularly the ESTONIAN ARTISTS’ GROUP, which profoundly inspired his contemporary, LEONHARD LAPIN. Vint’s own work from the 1970s was typically spare and geometric, with the occasional addition of erotic female motifs in the style of Aubrey Beardsley. A folio of erotic minimalist images was inexplicably accepted for publication in Noorus, a youth magazine, as a result of which the printer was forced to tear out the 36,000 offending nudes by hand. The lithograph Room 1 (1973; New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers U., Zimmerli A. Mus.) is one such image, albeit prim by modern Western standards. That a graphic artist occupied such a central, catalytic role in Estonian culture indicates not only Vint’s talent and erudition but also the privileged status of graphic art in Soviet-era Estonia, as it dominated and influenced graphic trends throughout the USSR. Furthermore, Vint’s expertise in Baltic folklore was an inspiration to his Latvian contemporaries, with whom he co-produced a film about Latvian folk ornament.

• Vint, Tonis
  • Estonia, §II: Painting, sculpture and graphic art
  • Lapin, Leonhard