"The most important value from the Tartu days that Ülo Sooster carried with him throughout his life was uncompromisingness, courage, and inner clarity."

                                   From art historian Reet Varblane's article "Ülo Sooster and His Time"

In the autumn, despite not having a high school diploma, Ülo was admitted to the Pallas Higher Art School (Tartu). Professor Ado Vabbe, regarded as the first Estonian avant-gardist, supported the talented young man. 

In his first year, the lead instructor was Juhan Nõmmik, who focused particularly on classical drawing structure and charcoal drawing. Watercolor was taught by Johannes Võerahansu, and painting by Aleksander Vardi. 

At this time, Ülo's favorite art movement was Impressionism.

In March, he was mobilized into the German army as a medic. Until July, he trained in a medical school in Czechoslovakia, where he met Valdur Ohakas, also a student of "Pallas." Upon returning to Estonia, he was sent to the front in the Ykhvi area. He deserted from the German army. With the help of his father, a soldier in the Red Army, he moved to Hiiumaa Island, to a small farmstead.

Late in the autumn, Ülo returns to studying at "Pallas," which has been renamed the Tartu State Art Institute. However, the teaching, and most importantly, the informal communication among students, professors, and artists still largely adhered to the rules and concepts that had been preserved in "Pallas" since the 1920s and 1930s.

Until 1948, the director was Anton Starkopf, the founder of "Pallas" and the national art school. The teaching was conducted by Alexander Vardi, who lived in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s; Ado Vabbe, whose artistic credo was formed in Munich during the heyday of "Der Blaue Reiter" and Kandinsky's expressionism. Also, those who graduated from "Pallas" in the late 1930s: Elmar Kits, Alfred Kong and others.

At the Tartu Art Museum, the students of "Pallas" became acquainted with the classics of Estonian art, which were no longer officially exhibited. In the library, they read books and magazines in French, studying Impressionists, Modernists, Cubists, and so on. Even then, Sooster began to single out Picasso for himself. He paid tribute to the classics of French, Italian, and Spanish art, particularly admiring the works of Piero della Francesca and Velázquez.

Here are the translations of the excerpts from the memories of Ülo Sooster's friends:

Heldur Viires:

"We wrote, read, argued, or drew, and the theme was always the same – always art with all its possibilities and temptations... Because without drawing, Sooster seemed to not exist."

Lembit Saarts:

...Sometimes we didn't eat enough and shared what we had. I remember how Ülo would divide bread, placing a ruler next to a piece and cutting it perfectly in half. Ülo received packages from home, which contained salted flounder or sauerkraut.

...In the summer of 1947, I independently came up with the idea of color music and wrote about it to Ülo in Hiiumaa. He replied, 'This is an oasis in the midst of socialist realism.'"

Henn Roode:

"In the institute hall, Ülo Sooster's composition 'Girl with a Hand Mill' was on display. The semester is ending. It's time for grades. A general institute meeting. Professor Starkopf and Ülo Sooster oppose each other. The discussion is about expanding the boundaries of art. About the significance of personality in art. About the importance of personal vision. About the role of deformation. About the right to create images at one's discretion. The unwavering director A. Starkopf, nobly defending the role of nature in art. And Sooster – slightly hunched, with curly hair falling over his forehead and clenched fists, ready to break through the wall with his head."

One of the teachers called the students "a bouquet of geniuses."

In 1948, the commission approved the theme of Yulo Sooster's graduation project. Professor Elmar Kiits was appointed as the supervisor of the diploma project.

The painting "Paving the Street" was completed in 1949. Heldur Viirese recalled that Ülo worked on the canvas in the street, oblivious to the crowd of people surrounding him from all sides. Following the French traditions of plein air painting, the young artist managed to achieve a special light, but overall, the work was executed in the style of socialist realism that was imposed from above.

On June 28, Ülo Sooster was awarded the title of painter.

Ülo moves to Tallinn, where he receives a studio at Pikk Jalg 1, in an old city tower on the third floor. He applies for membership in the Estonian Artists' Union.

December 28: He was arrested on charges of anti-Soviet propaganda and for creating a terrorist group intending to hijack a plane to escape to Sweden. There were also accusations of promoting formalism in art. The works in his studio were ordered to be burned.

By decision of the Special Council under the Minister of State Security of the USSR, the sentences for the artists were reduced to 10 years. 

In 1950, the Tartu State Art Institute was disbanded.

From the memories of Lembit Saarts: “We spent one night together in a prison in Tartu before we were sent further. We didn’t sleep all night, mostly talking about art. About how to start all over again when we return. We discussed what art should be like...”