Elmar Kits was an Estonian artist. He studied at the Pallas Higher Art School, and graduated in 1939. Kits was successful even after the Soviet occupation began, thanks to his ability to paint realistically. In 1956, he was named Honorable Cultural Figure of the Estonian SSR. He was a respected artist, and from 1949 he was able to live as a freelance artist.

In 1966, an exhibition of his abstract works took place in the Tartu Art House. This exhibition was an important event during the changes in art in the 1960s. Although more exhibitions of abstract art took place the same year, the solo exhibition of work by Kits was especially important, due to his status as an acknowledged artist; other exhibitions were by younger artists.