Marje Ernits

Artist is based in: Estonia

Marje Ernits (b. 1948) is an Estonian writer, screenwriter, and artist whose work spans both literature and visual art. Her practice often explores the more concealed layers of human behaviour, moral dilemmas, and societal tensions, using narrative as a means to examine complex human relationships and questions of responsibility.

She studied at the Tartu Art School, graduating in 1972. Her diploma work was a repoussé copper wall panel, supervised by Aleksander Suuman.

A significant part of Ernits’s artistic output consists of painting (pastel, watercolour, oil), which she has exhibited both in Estonia and internationally. Her solo exhibitions have taken place across Estonia — including Tallinn, Tartu, Võru, Põlva, Otepää, Viljandi, Pärnu, and Kuressaare — as well as in Latvia, Finland, Sweden, and Germany. In 2001, a major retrospective of her work was held at the Võrumaa Museum, presenting over one hundred works dating from the late 1960s onward.

Ernits is primarily known as a writer, with a body of work that includes novels, plays, and psychologically driven crime and prose fiction. Her literary work frequently engages with the underlying layers of human behaviour, moral ambiguity, and social dynamics, approaching narrative as a tool for examining complex interpersonal and ethical questions. Her long-standing presence in the Estonian cultural landscape has shaped both her artistic and literary voice, characterised by clarity of expression and a socially attentive perspective.