Venus Forbidden
“Before me lies the open spread of pages 18–19 from the magazine Znanie - Sila (Knowledge is Power), issue no. 2, 1968, featuring the article Earth and Venus. Beneath the title is a drawing by Ülo Sooster—its incompleteness of narrative and the absence of the artist’s characteristic imagery provoke a sense of bewilderment. The explanation, however, is quite simple: the drawing was not printed in full. The missing half (with Venus) was omitted from publication because Venus (forgive me!) was naked. No references to Botticelli could help. The reproduction of the rejected fragment that I have kept allows one to see the composition as Sooster originally conceived it. We had to agree to publish only half of the drawing, just to be able to pay the artist for his work…
The magazine always took pride in its collaboration with Ülo Sooster, publishing his drawings willingly, though cautiously. But then tragedy struck—Ülo was found dead in his studio (1970). The circumstances of his death remain unclear to this day. It is believed that Ülo died of heart failure.”
— Alexander Estrin, Art Editor of Znanie - Sila magazine