Jaan Elken

Jaan Elken (b. 1954) is a painter, art critic, curator, and art teacher. He started his artist career with hyper-realistic paintings in 1970s and has become one of the most significant abstract painters in Estonian art.

Elken has held more than 60 personal exhibitions, the latest “White / Heaven and earth 2” in Haus Gallery in 2026.

His works belong to the art collections of the Art Museum of Estonia, Tartu Art Museum, Museum of Tartu University, Tallinn Art Hall, Viinistu Art Museum, Postimehe Fond, Tretyakov Gallery, Norton Dodge Collection / Zimmerli Art Museum, European Parliament, CAM – Casoria Contemporary Art Museum and many private collections around the world.

Source: jaanelken.com