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1

URBAN AND RURAL ISSUES IN LATVIAN THINKING ON ART OF THE INTER-WAR PERIOD (Pilsetas un lauku motivi latviesu makslas izvertejumos starpkaru perioda)

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Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
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2007
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vol. 6
189-194
EN
Urban culture in Latvia has a comparatively short history and is most related to non-Latvian groups, so the connection between national and rural elements have often interested Latvian writers on art. The peasant nation's peculiar world outlook dominated often nationalist-type art history texts. In the Soviet period the peasant culture could be approved as democratic and pertaining to the simple folk; recourses to peasant mentality still resurface in recent studies as well. The origins of Latvian art in the latter half of the 19th century coincided with the dominance of Realism; also most of artists were of countryside origin. The article largely focuses on pieces of theory and criticism, discussing whether urban environment should or could provide motifs for artists and advance (national) creativity. The spectrum of answers is rather diverse and changing, but one can single out the rather leftist modernists'idea of the city as a topical subject allowing for art to reflect the contemporary life, and more traditional authors'interest in the countryside as the true cradle of national specificity. The artist Niklavs Strunke in his passionate manifestoes of the late 1910s promoted the new art and emphasised the architectonic simplicity of street noises and automobile movement, also the writer Andrejs Kurcijs in his theory of Activism spoke about urban themes as a sign of new, contemporary Romanticism. A peculiar and contradictory view of the problems of modernity was proposed by the folklorist Ernests Brastins who synthesised a passeist idealisation of ancient Latvian society and almost Futurist excitement about technological advances. If opinions voiced in the early 1920s contained at least partly optimistic views on the urban development, gradually the city became interpreted as a threat to a truly national creativity, especially after the local authoritarian regime replaced parliamentary democracy in 1934.
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RELATIONSHIPS OF ART AND RELIGION IN LATVIAN WRITING ON ART IN THE 1ST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY (Makslas un religijas attiecibu aspekti latviesu autoru teoretiskajas atzinas 20. gs. pirmaja puse)

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Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
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2008
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vol. 7
155-165
EN
Relationships, connections and contradictions concerning art and religion create a broad field of research focused on the gradual emancipation of various spheres of human activity (science, philosophy, history, art) from the medieval subservient status in respect to religion. The official doctrine of the Soviet period was overtly atheistic, criticising 'religious mysticism' of Latvian artwriting of the interwar period, easily fusing this component with other misguided traits, like bourgeois nationalism, idealism and fascist ideology. In fact, the scattered reflections on art and religion contain both attempts to identify and distinguish these spheres as well as different ideas as to what forms are suitable for expression of a religious message. Unlike in the neighbouring Catholic Lithuania, Christian religion was not so deep-seated in Latvian culture; interpretations of culture and art from the viewpoint of natural sciences, Marxism and Leo Tolstoy's apology of art's usefulness grew more prominent in the early 20th century. Still echoes of neo-romanticist symbolism and aestheticism, treating art as a kind of religion of the present can be viewed in this context, most clearly expressed in the so-called decadent manifesto of 1906. The most developed reflections on this subject are found in Latvian artist and theoretician Teodors Uders' letters where he reflected on the existence of God, finding Benedict Spinoza's pantheism most adequate to his own intuitions. The subject of art and religion increased in importance in 1920s and especially 1930s, responding to the current need for ideological consolidation. The common stance was rather negative towards the traditional Christianity and church as an institution - art should in principle be akin to religion but not in the sense of a traditional sacred art, rather extolling some ideal authority and meaningful message. Three points of intersection between art and religion can be detected in this period. Firstly, these are influences received by art historians, philosophers etc.; secondly, the impact of Theosophy; thirdly, promotion of Latvian national religion dievturiba (God Keeping or God Worshipping).
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'ACTIVE ART' ('AKTIVA MAKSLA') BY ANDREJS KURCIJS (Andreja Kurcija 'Aktiva maksla')

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Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
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2003
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vol. 3
96-104
EN
The book titled 'Active Art' ('Aktiva maksla', 1923) by the Latvian writer and literary critic Andrejs Kurcijs (1894-1959) belongs to the wide spectrum of avant-garde manifestoes current in Europe of the 1920s. It is a kind of theoretical treatise of activism which deals with problems of both European and Latvian art, including visual art. This work has been examined several times; already Kurcijs' contemporaries made some critical comments but during the Soviet period it had been interpreted mostly as a dualistic split between 'formalist' and 'revolutionary' attitudes. The theoretical background of this treatise is surely related to Kurcijs' studies of philosophy and art theory at the Berlin University in 1922 and 1923. But he had read much of Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Leo Tolstoy, Karl Marx etc. already during his earlier studies of medicine and first literary endeavours. Activism is closely related to formalism - artistic form is that enduring element that excites the viewer with aesthetic means and depends on intellectual effort, contrary to the passive attitudes of naturalist/impressionist legacy. Direct quotes from Amedee Ozenfant's and Fernand Leger's statements testify that Kurcijs was greatly impressed by their ideas. Speaking about activism and cubism, Kurcijs also stress the widely circulating cubist idea that they depict things 'as they really are', apart from their irrelevant, accidental features. More critical is Kurcijs' approach to suprematism. Although it may be the most consequent in rendering 'things in themselves', at the same time it loses its emotional, spiritual qualities, its 'artistic mathematics'. One is prompted to ask if Kurcijs' theory might be derived from the German literary trend named activism. Some common general traits indeed could be discovered, such as emphasis on the autonomy of spiritual phenomena, like literature and art, opposed to the natural determinism typical of the 19th century. Andrejs Kurcijs continued to promote the activist theory and defend his position concerning the fruitful impact of the 'active French painting' on Latvian art in his later exhibition reviews.
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INTERPRETATION OF ART IN THE CONTEXT OF AUTHORITARIANISM: FACTOR OF THE YEAR 1934 (Makslas interpretacija un autoritarisma konteksts: 1934. gada faktors)

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Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
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2006
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vol. 5
127-133
EN
Political factors are surely important in regard to division into periods of Latvian thinking on art. So far the establishment of the authoritarian regime on 15 May 1934 has been either demonized as the onset of 'fascism' or explained away as a logical outcome of society's development supported by the people. This article, however, is not focused on processes and events in the art life and related institutions but on theoretically minded reflections on art. The most obvious influence of authoritarianism relates to certain elements of censorship - after 1934 leftist writers' opinions disappeared from books and periodicals, significantly reducing the spectrum of art-theoretical ideas. Another aspect is the emphasis on Latvian national art as a deliberate program. Still the suggested stylistic premises were very vague, ranging from ethnographic heritage to the ideals of classical European art. One of the current topics was derived from Oswald Spengler's opposition between civilization and culture, conceiving of Latvian art as a part of 'fresh' and powerful culture in contrast to the civilization of 'old' European countries, Still it is not easy to answer to what an extent the ideas on art's essence and functions had been modified by the political climate change, Political engagement seems to be inversely proportional to the author's specific competence in the field of visual arts. In many cases no certain change can be detected, especially if the author's position differed from the official ideology of Latvianness. One should note that negative attitudes towards avant-garde experiments as a means of leftist propaganda appeared already in the 1920s, as in the sculptor Gustavs Skilters' remarks on deformation and anarchy not being the only creative powers: 'It's time to dismiss these ghosts of revolution from our art and establish a healthy national trend based on serious work.' This trend of thinking on art can be broadly named traditionalist; art was mostly conceived along pragmatist-instrumentalist lines as a promoter of truth, religion, morality but first of all - Latvianness. This model was closely intertwined with various modifications of the ancient mimetic theory, interpreting art as a direct or variously 'perfected' or 'recreated' representation of nature.
5

THE SOURCES OF KRISTAPS ELIASS' THEORETICAL THINKING (Kristapa Eliasa teoretisko principu avoti)

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Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
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2001
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vol. 2
95-100
EN
This article is devoted to the original sources from which the Latvian art historian Kristaps Eliass (1886--1963) developed his theoretical principles. Eliass wrote biographical and theoretical articles, as well as books about Dutch and French art, and of particular importance to him were the writings of German authors Richard Muther and Julius Meier-Graefe, both of whom were prominent at that time. During the Soviet period, Kristaps Eliass was praised for his texts where he emphasized the influence of social conditions on arts, linking it directly to the progressive role of Karl Marx's conception. However, the work of Muther and Meier-Graefe is much closer to that of Eliass - they saw art history as a systematic and ordered interpretation of processes, criticizing the separation of art and life that was typical of capitalist societies. Kristaps Eliass also placed a high emphasis on the personality of each artist, thus reflecting the ideas of Romanticism, as well as the influential thinking of Arthur Schopenhauer. In his writing Eliass also drew upon the ideas of the historians and theoreticians Alois Riegl and Wilhelm Worringer, among others, about the regularities that are found in the evolution of the arts. He also took advantage of conclusions which the optician Hermann von Helmholtz developed about the impossibility of copying nature directly in a work of art. During the dogmatic period of Stalinism, Eliass' work fell out of favor and was criticized for emphasizing sociological conditions inadequately. Eliass always tried to maintain a certain balance between the importance of the spirit of the times or the class struggle on the one hand, and the value of forms created by a self-expressive artist on the other.
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FORMS OF ARTISTIC VISION IN LATVIAN ART THEORY OF THE 1920S AND 1930S (Pasauluztveres formu mainiba Latvijas makslas teorija 20. gs. 20. - 30. gados)

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Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
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2000
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vol. 1
114-119
EN
In this essay, Latvian art theory is interpreted not only as including openly declared principles of artistic creation, but also the theoretical background of any art-historical text. During the inter-war period, those who wrote about Latvian art were influenced by Western strategies of implementation that were in vogue at that time. One of the central traditions emerged from modified versions of the German idealist philosophy. Space and time as a priori forms of Kantian knowledge were transformed into changing forms of artistic vision and supplemented with the Hegelian concept of art as a spiritual expression of the particular age. These intellectual premises were basic tenets for such writers on art as Heinrich Woelfflin, Alois Riegl, Wilhelm Worringer, Dagobert Frey, Wilhelm Pinder and others. Art historian Boriss Vipers was certainly familiar with the broad spectrum of contemporary ideas on art, including the writings of some of the aforementioned critics. He interpreted stylistic differences in art as signs of different conceptions of space, as well as different stages in the formal evolution of art. Art historian Janis Silins stressed the common spiritual aims of each artistic generation, as emphasized in Pinder's theory. For his part, art historian Kristaps Eliass used Riegl's notion of changing artistic will to resist the deep-seated naturalistic criteria of artistic value. As formal concepts, forms of artistic vision could partly be conceived as support to the modernist notion of art's autonomy. But as spiritual hallmarks of their time, their nation, etc., they could also be used as tools by authoritarian and totalitarian ideologies. It is possible to conclude that these theoretical principles derived from German and Austrian (the Vienna school) sources of art literature, formed basis of local thinking about art. While the idea of change in the forms of artistic vision implied some acceptance of the latest trends, the biological metaphors in Latvian art, as being in the early stage of Western art history, also fostered a more conservative orientation toward the classical legacy of European art.
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ENTRAPPED BY CONVICTION: KRISTAPS ELIASS' CONTRIBUTION TO LATVIAN ART HISTORY (Parliecibas slazda: Kristapa Eliasa ieguldijums latviesu makslas vesture)

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Makslas Vesture un Teorija
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2006
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vol. 6-7
71-76
EN
The contribution of Latvian authors not only to the study of the local artistic heritage but also in raising the general cultural level of society is an important aspect of history of this branch. Art historian Kristaps Eliass' (1886-1963) publications are mostly dedicated to the popularization of the most renowned phenomena of 18th - 20th century Western European art and French art in particular. The main sources of Eliass' theoretical principles came from the then influential but today less known writers on art (Julius Meier-Graefe, Richard Muther, Werner Weisbach, Ludwig Coellen etc.); this allows us to define Eliass' approach as scientifically grounded, especially when compared to the local setting of the social sciences. (Karl Marx's ideas, although found in many quotes, could hardly provide him with a consistent example of writing on art). Since becoming a follower of the ideas of social democracy in his early youth, Eliass' leftist stance placed him in almost perpetual opposition to the ruling state system. These ideas were hated in tsarist Russia as well as during the local nationalist authoritarian regime after 1934 and equally under Stalin's rule after the Soviet occupation. After the end of the Soviet era his leftist phraseology also seems outdated. Nevertheless, his books 'French Contemporary Painting' (written together with his brother, painter Gederts Eliass, 1940), 'Dutch Old Masters' (1957) and 'Honoré Daumier and His Time' (1960) belong to the few comprehensive sources on Western European art published in Latvian during the 20th century. Their informative and educational role, unlike scattered articles in periodicals, reaches far beyond the audience of contemporaries.
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THE MARXIST LEGACY AND THE INTERPRETATION OF ART: BETWEEN AESTHETIC VALUE AND SOCIAL SYMPTOM (Marksisma mantojums un makslas interpretacija: Starp estetisku vertibu un socialu simptomu)

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Makslas Vesture un Teorija
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2009
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vol. 12
38-43
EN
The basic premises of Marxism in respect to art are well known - art is a social phenomenon impossible to explain outside the economic structures of the society in which and for which it is made. Although primitive, deterministic versions of Marxism are largely of historical interest only, seeing art processes as a field of interaction of social, ethnic, gender, race and other contextual factors has not only been recognised but also became a dominant set of interpretational strategies. If feminism, gender studies or the post-colonial discourse are relatively new on Latvian soil, Marxist ideas have circulated in the local intellectual milieu since the late 19th century. In line with the dominant Soviet ideology, they have been comparatively well documented. In the interwar period Marxist ideas developed from more radical, expressionist-style echoes of proletarian culture to gradual restoration of order. Art as the indicator of the class struggle also sometimes left room for the concept of artist-genius, his gift consisting precisely in an ability to sense the social change first, as described by art historian Kristaps Eliass. The writer Andrejs Kurcijs who attempted to introduce the trend of Activism, a term coined in the melting pot of European Avant-garde trends, also voiced a compromise between the understanding of form and sociological assessment, each illuminating the other. Though politically unacceptable, leftist views emphasising serious content instead of the bourgeois formalism were selectively institutionalised as 'progressive' in the following period of Soviet domination.
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SOCIALIST REALISM IN THE PERIODICAL 'LITERATURE AND ART'. THEORETICAL BASIS OF ART CRITICISM IN THE SOVIET TIME (Socialistiskais realisms laikraksta 'Literatura un Maksla'. Padomju perioda makslas kritikas teoretiskie pamati)

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Makslas Vesture un Teorija
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2003
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vol. 1
16-22
EN
This article aims to elucidate the evolution of Socialist Realism, the central art-theoretical term of the period 1945-1980, as it appears in the weekly periodical 'Literatura un Maksla' ('Literature and Art', 1945-1990). The doctrine of Socialist Realism was proclaimed as the only permitted one during the All-Soviet Union Writers' Congress in 1934 and inculcated in the newly occupied territories, including Latvia, after 1945. It can be partly interpreted as a continuation of the old European traditions in art theory. 19th-century Realism was one of the central building-blocks of this doctrine but one should note also the very idea of art as a theoretically grounded activity that has to represent reality. As the ancient theory of art as representation did never mean precise copying but a kind of idealisation that became heavily dependant on classical models studied in European art academies, the doctrine of Socialist Realism inherited this basic idea of academic theory that art can be taught and artists' professional skill is essential. The most paradoxical conclusion to be drawn from this study - critics had no other criteria, except their intuition and feeling, to decide whether an artwork is 'right' or 'wrong' from the viewpoint of Socialist Realism. Nobody, of course, has been able to explain, when and how exactly an innovative feature that might enrich Socialist Realism turns into contestable deviation from its supposedly 'objective', 'professional', 'ideologically true' course. It is possible to assume that the ongoing extension of the notion of Socialist Realism was a simple reaction to the evolution of artistic practice. At the same time, it is not provable that situation in art forced to expand the notion's boundaries against the authors' true conviction. The term of Socialist Realism can be surely metaphorically compared to an empty shell whose ever-changing content deserves to be studied in the wider context of Western art-theoretical thought.
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LATVIAN ART THEORY 1900-1940: ROUTES AND SOURCES OF INFLUENCE (Ietekmju virzieni un avoti latviesu makslas teorijas lauka (1900-1940))

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Makslas Vesture un Teorija
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2006
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vol. 5
62-64
EN
The issue of centre-periphery relationships has increased in importance in the context of the globalised world and enlarged European Union. While Western researchers seem to be more focused on previously marginal areas, Eastern art historians still see much work to be done exploring the connections between local phenomena and more dominant cultural centres. In fact the largely secondary nature of local material opens up a wide spectrum of influences and analogies waiting for elucidation. There are not many works on connections in particular, but a focus on the context and possible patterns of influence has become an indispensable part of the most recent publications in Latvian art history. Studies of Latvian art-theoretical heritage indicate that German sources have been the most influential in shaping Latvian authors' opinions on what is art and how its development could be conceived. Max Liebermann, Richard Muther, Julius Meier-Graefe, Wilhelm Worringer and other writers on art should be mentioned in this respect. French influences that started to spread with Hippolyte Taine's ideas were important but more indirect, episodic and sweeping, mostly seeking alternative models to the local heritage of German and Russian traditions. So French Cubist and Purist idioms were particularly attractive for local modernists but Henri Begson's stance was especially widespread in the field of aesthetics and philosophy. Apart from the Russian avant-garde ideas introduced by Voldemars Matvejs, Russian art-theoretical sources had a limited impact, more related to particular authors' interests. In general, Latvian writers on art have been inconsistent and rather skeptical towards the radical avant-garde. The argument of national art as being at a relatively early stage of development encouraged the ancient tradition of thinking on art as a recreated and perfected imitation of nature.
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CONTENT AND FORM IN LATVIAN ART THEORY IN THE FIRST THIRD OF THE 20TH CENTURY (Satura un formas attiecibu traktejums latviesu makslas teorija 20. gs. pirmaja tresdala)

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Makslas Vesture un Teorija
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2006
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vol. 5
31-35
EN
The idea of content and form being two separate components of the artistic image is a rather ancient legacy of European art theory. The origins of the notion of form can be found in classical sources; in a simplified way, content is what the artwork is 'about' and form relates to 'how' this content is made manifest. As noted by the Polish aesthetician Wladyslaw Tatarkiewicz, form can have at least five meanings. Form as opposed to content is only one possible reading; another no less important sense is the interpretation of form as the relationships of parts and their proportions. In the local art-theoretical material both the above-mentioned senses of form (form as style and form as relationships of parts) are largely blended together, speaking at the same time about perceptible formal qualities and the modes of their arrangement. Early 20th century theoretical thought is largely concerned with lessening the significance of content in art, especially 'significant' content as promoted by the academic tradition. It was replaced by everyday subjects considered equally significant by artists who stressed form as embodying the unique vision of the individual. From a Marxist viewpoint, symbolism was termed formalist although it is rather content-based in the context of other 20th century trends. In the early 1920s, when an open clash broke out between the 'old' academic art and the Riga Artists' Group, young artists tended to stress the importance of form, seemingly diminishing the role of content. The local scene was typified by the search for a midway between 'traditional' and radically innovative form, denouncing both the imitation of nature by 'old means' and 'contemporary' form lacking any deeper content.
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