Congratulations to our Cumulus Board member, Anne Pikkov (EKA – Estonian Academy of Arts), who has been awarded the Valter Illustration Prize.
Edgar Valter Illustration Award was established by the Estonian Children’s Literature Center.  The award is named after a beloved Estonian illustrator and children’s writer Edgar Valter.

On the anniversary of the Edgar Valter’s birth, the Valter Illustration Award, which was awarded to Anne Pikkov, was presented at the Estonian Children’s Literature Center. The award is monetary and includes the opportunity to organize a solo exhibition in the illustration gallery of the Estonian Children’s Literature Center in the autumn of 2022.
A jury of children’s literature and illustration experts selected the winner and nominees from 28 book artists, taking into account books published over the past five years. Anne Pikkov’s co-nominees included illustrators Katrin Ehrlich, Piret Raud, Urmas Viik and Catherine Zarip.
According to the chairman of the jury Triin Soone, the laureate Anne Pikkov is a playful and surprising illustrator who feels masterful and homely in many techniques. According to him, Pikkov is like an artist in a mask, whose work he does not immediately recognize exactly who is behind the mask. “Anne Pikkov uses both freely manual and computer-based techniques and creates both juicy and colorful graphic solutions. In her pictures, it is not the detailed object and space that matters, but the emotion hidden in the colors and characters,” added Soone.

The nominees and the winner were selected by a seven-member jury consisting of Eva Laantee Reintamm (art historian), Ilona Martson (children’s magazine Täheke), Mare Müürsepp (IBBY Estonian department), Juss Piho (Estonian Association of Graphic Designers), Kersti Tiik (Estonian Art Museum), Asta Trummel Ministry of Culture) and Triin Soone (Estonian Children’s Literature Center).

The illustration prize was established in 2019, when Regina Lukk-Toompere was chosen as the laureate. The aim of the award is to value and recognize the work of Estonian book artists, to promote and support the development of Estonian children’s literature and to commemorate Edgar Valter. The award is supported by the Ministry of Culture.

Read more about the award here.
Read about Pikkov’s award in Estonian here.