Mikko, Lepo Iagovich

(also L. I. Mikk). Born Nov. 24 (Dec. 7), 1911, in Aruküla, in present-day Viljandi Raion. Soviet painter. People’s Artist of the Estonian SSR (1972).

Mikko studied at the industrial arts school in Tallinn under N. Trük from 1927 to 1930 and at the Pallas Higher School of Art in Tartu from 1931 to 1932 and from 1936 to 1939. He teaches at the Art Institute of the Estonian SSR in Tallinn (since 1944; a professor since 1965). Mikko paints thematic works devoted to space exploration and the struggle for peace, still lifes, and landscapes. His paintings are characterized by generalized symbolic images. His compositions are usually biplanar, have a stagelike quality, and contain large flat areas of decorative and, at times, nearly monochromatic color. Mikko’s paintings include Women Boat Caulkers (1939, Art Museum of the Estonian SSR, Tallinn), Washing Sheep (1959, Art Museum of the Estonian SSR), Songs of Time (1970), Man and the Cosmos (1971, Art Museum of the Estonian SSR), and The Wheel of Time (tempera and oils, 1971). The artist was awarded the State Prize of the Estonian SSR in 1972.