Full-text resources of CEJSH and other databases are now available in the new Library of Science.
Visit https://bibliotekanauki.pl

Results found: 16

first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last

Search results

Search:
in the keywords:  ART NOUVEAU
help Sort By:

help Limit search:
first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last
1

RIGA CAFE AND RESTAURANT INTERIORS IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY AND THE 1920S - 1930S (Rigas kafejnicu un restoranu interjeri 20. gs. sakuma un 20. - 30. gados)

100%
Banga V.
Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
|
2004
|
vol. 4
131-150
EN
Memory of the city is connected with legends, events and places that do not exist anymore but buildings and their interiors often leave behind 'impression of the age', living independently of us in old postcards and writers' stones. The subject of Riga cafe and restaurant interiors at the early 20th century and the 1920s - 1930s is examined for the first time in Latvian art history. Beginnings of entertainment places in medieval Riga are found in wine cellars; cellar taverns gradually became an integral part of the town, flourishing in the mid-19th century. Besides there were taverns almost at every cross-road in the countryside, but in Riga they were connected with small manors in outskirts of the town, for example, in Sampeteris and Pardaugava. Initially one could taste a cup of wine also in drugstores and small bars, but neither in taverns nor in bars there was some kind of interior designed for entertainment. Cellar taverns are more close to the subject; their walls were decorated with richly painted acanthus curls as well as mottoes and coats-of-arms. Most likely certain traditions were developed for cellar tavern paintings. Cafes in Riga grew out of confectioneries, later becoming separate leisure places with certain interior finish. Restaurants in their turn developed firstly at hotels but later also in Wohrmann's Garden where many people spent their free time. If the first restaurant in Paris opened in 1770 was intended as a place of exquisite dining, in Latvia dining places with strong drinks were initially called restaurants, sometimes also taverns. Since the late 19th century and early 20th century special, detached buildings for this purpose were constructed, for example, in Arkadija, Smerlis and Jurmala. A particular type of wooden pavilion with rich wood-carved decorations developed in Jurmala. Pavilions were intended for coffee drinking. The article examines the plastic decorative finish as well as variety of colours and materials used in entertainment places. It is important because Art Deco style, for example, featured bright colours and elegant finish materials.
2

NEO-CLASSICISM IN THE DECORATIVE SCULPTURE OF ART NOUVEAU IN RIGA (Velreiz par neoklasicismu Rigas 20. gadsimta sakuma arhitekturas dekorativaja telnieciba)

100%
Grosa S.
Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
|
2000
|
vol. 1
74-83
EN
In analyzing the architecture of turn-of-the-century Riga, it is important to evaluate the style of decorative sculpture that was used in the construction process. This is a subject that has received scant attention from specialists so far. Some of the materials can be classified as belonging to Neo-Classicism. The fact that we can find elements of Neo-Classicism in the decorative sculpture of early-20th century architecture in Riga, moreover, allows us to expand the chronological frontiers which apply to this particular movement in Latvia. As the result of a comparative analysis, we have found several specific aspects of decorative sculpture in early-20th century Rigensian decorative sculpture that can be attributed to Neo-Classicism. These are found in clear efforts to imbue the style with regional motivation, taking a fairly free approach to the classic inheritance of the movement, as well as in close links and reciprocal effect with late Art Nouveau and National Romanticism. International influences were important, too. The trends toward Classicism expanded the range of expressive opportunities that were available to sculptors, letting them search for new forms of plastic expression. There were also changes in the range of decorative and iconographic motifs, promoting the development of allegorical and story-telling compositions in the external decorations of buildings. Riga's Neo-C1assicist decorative sculpture tended to be quite concrete in terms of iconographic expressiveness, and the trend was toward sculpture which really told a story. Sometimes a certain craftsmanship in execution of a sculpture could diminish the academic seriousness and attribute more liveliness to the depiction. At the same time, however, we also find professionally valuable interpretations of classical themes - ones in which the link to the conventional traditions of Classicism was unimportant in the shaping of subjective allusions to mythological themes.
3

ART NOUVEAU AND LATVIAN LANDSCAPE PAINTING AT THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY (Jugendstils un latviesu ainavu gleznieciba gadsimtu mija)

100%
Kacalova T.
Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
|
2000
|
vol. 1
70-73
EN
At the time when Art Nouveau first arrived in Latvia, landscapes were a favored genre - one which offered a wealth of subjects and motifs and which was inherited from Russian and Scandinavian artists who had worked in the spirit of Realism. A successful study of this issue would allow us to determine the phases that were important to the development of the genre more completely, because in Latvia, Art Nouveau did not replace earlier styles, but co-existed with them. Most often, Art Nouveau was expressed as an ingredient in solutions which conformed to the demands of other styles. The arrival of Art Nouveau elements in Latvian landscape painting was a gradual process, and there are relatively few landscapes that are typically Art Nouveau in style. Art Nouveau did not subjugate Latvian art, but it did affect the mentality of Latvian artists. The main resources of its formal idiom (decoration and rhythm) awakened centuries-old sub-conscious understandings of these values, thus facilitating the establishment of a national art. A vivid example of Latvian landscape painting at the turn of the century is provided by the work of Vilhelms Purvitis (1872-1945) who, more than his contemporaries, managed to adapt the formal idiom of the new style to the needs of landscape painting while at the same time not turning his works into typical Art Nouveau stylizations. There should be more research on the work which Purvitis did in the late 19th and early 20th century, because it hides the key to revealing the most important aspects of Art Nouveau iconography and, by extension, the key to a broader understanding of Latvian landscape painting.
4

ATIS KENINS SCHOOL BUILDING AND NATIONAL ROMANTICISM IN THE ARCHITECTURE OF RIGA AT THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY (Ata Kenina skolas eka un nacionalais romantisms Rigas 20. gs. sakuma arhitektura)

100%
Grosa S.
Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
|
2003
|
vol. 3
55-65
EN
National Romanticism belongs to the most controversial trends in the architecture of the early 20th century. Connections between National Romanticism and Art Nouveau in Riga were detected already between the wars, and there is a reasonable ground to consider National Romanticist architecture as a modification of Art Nouveau. But some particular questions of National Romanticism are still waiting for answers. This article about the Atis Kenins School (1905, Terbatas Street 15/17, architects Konstantins Peksens and Eizens Laube), the first public building of this style in Riga and one of the most outstanding examples of it, tries to answer some of these questions. The present look of the Atis Kenins School differs from the elevation drawing in the project as well as from some early- 20th-century photographs that show more influences of Finnish architecture. It was a very important source of inspiration for the National Romanticist architecture in Riga. Comparing the general features of the Finnish architecture with those of the Latvian National Romanticist architecture, the article tries to define the specificity of National Romanticism, pointing to some stereotypes in methodological approach. Conclusions based on research experience in other countries do not allow to interpret the National Romanticist architecture as a manifestation of national identity. Even the school owner Atis Kenins' very nationalist-minded personality does not convince that the look of the building is expressive of Latvian identity. These aspirations are only part of a certain stylistic trend that comprises many other features as well. The analysis of the Kenins School interiors proves that National Romanticist interiors should be included in one typological group with different stylistic elements. So the term of National Romanticism in Riga as well as in Finland and other countries should be used as a neutral stylistic category.
5

THE GENESIS OF THE PROFESSIONAL ILLUSTRATION OF LATVIAN CHILDREN'S BOOKS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN ART (Latviesu bernu gramatu grafikas pirmsakumi Eiropas makslas ierosmes)

100%
Kuple Z.
Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
|
2000
|
vol. 1
104-113
EN
Graphic illustration of Latvian children's books began at the professional level only in the 20th century, as part of the active development of the national book industry and professional fine art in Latvia, beginning in the late 19th century. Also of importance were expanded opportunities to study graphic illustrations meant for children that were produced abroad. The initial efforts at producing graphics for children's books in Latvia involved differing types of books. This article looks most particularly at the first professionally illustrated children's books in the area of folklore. Among the artists who worked in this field were Rihards Zarins, Eduards Brencens, Janis Zegners, Alberts Kronenbergs and Janis Tillbergs, whose works exposed link with German Late Romanticism (illustrations by Zarins and Brencens) and with works of English artist Walther Crane and Russian artists Jekaterina Polenova and Ivan Bilibin who, on their turn, were influenced by Art Nouveau (illustrations by Zegners, Kronenbergs and Tillbergs). The first truly splendid example of an illustrated children's book was the Tillbergs-illustrated folk story 'Misinbardis', which was published in 1913 in the form of an album (notebook) - a style that was popular at the turn of the century. The illustrations were printed separately from the text, and the entire work was printed on high-quality paper. 'Misinbardis' was quite reminiscent of album-type children's books that were at the time being produced by the Russian artists association 'Mir Iskusstva' (The World of Art). From the very beginning, the work of professional Latvian artists in the area of children's books demonstrated ties to the patriarchal foundations of understanding their country and their environment. In terms of stylistics there was the use of techniques from late Romanticism and Art Nouveau. In Latvia, however, illustrations meant for children from the very start avoided over-saturation with details, idyllic beautification or open didactics - elements which were not rare in imported picture books.
6
Content available remote

Kroměřížská architektura 19. století. II. část

88%
Zatloukal P.
Historica: revue pro historii a příbuzné vědy (Historica: Review in history and related sciences)
|
2012
|
vol. 3
|
issue 2
144-163
EN
In the second half of the 19th century the yet dominant influence of the archbishopric on the Kroměříž architecture abates. Nevertheless, the archbishopric architect Gustav Meretta, constructing in the Neo-Renaissance style, remains one of the most influential architects of the time. In late historism, two builders were of crucial importance for Kroměříž – Ladislav Mesenský St. and Felix Skibinský, who also spread the construction style in the spirit of Art Nouveau. The most remarkable art nouveau work of art is the extensive premises of the insane asylum by Hubert Gessner, a graduate of Otto Wagner.
7

20. gadsimta sākuma modernā Rīgas grafiķe Alise Dmitrijeva

88%
Vanaga B.
Makslas Vesture un Teorija
|
2016
|
vol. 19
48-62
EN
In autumn 1911, Alice Dmitrijew (1876–1945) showed her decorative, stylised colour woodcuts for the first time to the public of her native Riga at the 2nd exhibition of the Baltic Artists’ Association in the Riga Art Society premises. Existing publications, mainly artists’ dictionaries, provide very little information on her biography, largely containing birth and death years, some facts and short descriptions of her graphic works but nothing about her education. Also early 20th century local periodicals give only descriptions of works shown in exhibitions and individual reproductions. Significant hints of a more comprehensive biography have been found in a letter by the Riga-born German Margot Mecketh (1889–1956) to Paul Campe (1885–1960) preserved in the legacy of this architect and historian of architecture at the Herder Institute in Marburg and so far unknown to Latvian researchers. Alice Dmitrijew was born in Riga to the family of Ivan Dmitrijew, a merchant from Yaroslavl and active member of the city’s Russian community, and his wife Alice, a Riga-born descendant of a Silesian weavers’ family. Dmitrijew most often exhibited colour woodcuts in local art shows, being one of the first Baltic artists to take up print techniques seriously; she largely earned positive reviews in both the German and Latvian press. However, today we know just twelve woodcuts from the print collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art, one painting that has recently surfaced in the art market, one cover design for a book and several reproductions in the Yearbook of Baltic Art. Dmitrijew’s preserved works, all dated about 1910–1915, feature typical Art Nouveau interplays of rhythmical areas and a refined, subdued colour range. In this period she had used simple compositions, laconic, generalised and unified colour fields and subtle tonal variations to create decorative, moderately elegant and sometimes playfully fresh interpretations of figural, landscape and still life motifs.
8

Alfrēda Ašenkampfa projektētās koka ēkas Āgenskalnā

75%
Plūmiņa L.
Makslas Vesture un Teorija
|
2018
|
vol. 21
33-48
EN
There is little information on the life and works of Riga architect Alfred Aschenkampff; however, his name features in almost all art history books dealing with Riga’s Art Nouveau buildings or the city’s history on the threshold of the 20th century. He designed one of the first Art Nouveau buildings in Riga – the apartment house at 7 Audēju Street – as well as pavilions for the 1901 Industry and Crafts Exhibition that was very significant in the history of Riga. When dealing with the Aschenkampff’s output in Riga, the wooden architecture of Āgenskalns in particular, new and important objects can be added to his few known works. In the late 19th – early 20th century, Riga saw economic growth and a booming number of inhabitants; as a result, the city spread out and the density of buildings increased too. In Āgenskalns at the time, several developmental trends are evident, both continuing the building tradition of previous centuries and reflecting the 19th century Western tendencies of urban planning. Buildings designed by Aschenkampff are situated along the old trade routes – Slokas and Kalnciema Streets – as well as in completely new quarters – on Kristapa, Sabiles, Melnsila and other streets. In the ten-year period from 1895 to 1905, nine buildings were constructed to Aschenkampff’s designs in Āgenskalns; eight of them have survived up to the present in various technical conditions. Comparing earlier designs with the buildings constructed after the turn of the century, transformations related to the advent of Art Nouveau in Riga are brightly evident. It has been assumed so far that Art Nouveau was very modest in Riga’s wooden architecture but Aschenkampff’s case proves that this statement cannot be applied to at least some architects. The wooden houses examined in the article show various possible scenarios for the buildings of this type – one had burned down, some are maintained in good condition and carefully repaired or restored while others are reconstructed beyond recognition. Therefore, Riga’s wooden architecture cannot be always assessed from the buildings’ present image, and original construction designs have to be consulted to grasp the architect’s ideas.
9

ART NOUVEAU IN THE SACRED AND PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE OF RIGA (Rigas jugendstila perioda sakralo un sabiedrisko eku dekors)

75%
Grosa S.
Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
|
2008
|
vol. 7
147-154
EN
Sacred architecture has been especially important in the development of each epoch's most important innovations and as a reflection of the main stylistic tendencies. Although over the last years interest in the heritage of sacred architecture in Latvia has resulted in several extensive publications, the subject still features the blind spot of the Art Nouveau influences upon the sacred architecture and décor in Latvia at the turn of the 20th century. Active construction of churches went on in this period, revealing stylistic pluralism in wide-range reconstruction and renovation of churches as well. The aim of this publication is to specify particular aspects of stylistic estimation related to Riga architecture in the late 19th and early 20th century. The influence of Art Nouveau upon Riga architecture was not homogenous; it did not appear an all-embracing style that is especially evident in public buildings, including industrial objects, educational and commercial institutions and their decorative handling. In a similar vein, church construction reflected a wide scope of historical styles - Art Nouveau has not left a considerable impact on churches of various confessions (12 in total) built in Riga and its surroundings around the turn of the 20th century. Still new spatial tasks had to be solved; in other cases Art Nouveau has inspired particular decorative elements.
10

The World of Erich von Campenhausen: A Creative Spirit to Mark the Opening of a New Artistic Era in Riga… and Beyond (Art Historical Lacunae: A Case Study)

75%
Howard J.
Makslas Vesture un Teorija
|
2017
|
vol. 20
36-55
EN
The article deals with the diverse activities of the Baltic German artist Erich von Campenhausen (1872–1926) and analysis of his known works in the art-historical context. In his early period after returning to Riga from Karlsruhe where he studied engineering, the artist was more involved with applied arts while later he studied at the Karlsruhe Academy of Art (1909–1914) and took up painting and graphics to a greater extent. The so-called ‘play’ figures (Scherzfiguren) created around 1907 were ceramic sculptures of exotic animals, with their rounded forms reminding of Japanese netsuke. About the same time Campenhausen also made 18 ‘humorous art postcards’, coloured ink drawings, showing ‘joys and sufferings of a Negro boy’, according to the press of the time. Campehausen’s contribution to applied arts (design of plates and dishes, cutlery and furniture) is represented in the Baltic art yearbook ‘Bildende Kunst der Ostseeprovinzen’. In all, Campehausen’s approach was based on laconic aesthetics, envisioning beauty in simplicity that sharply differs from his younger brother Balthasar von Campenhausen’s output – rather Historicist interiors with Baroque forms and decorative weightiness of patterned, upholstered furniture and tapestries. Erich von Campenhausen also took part in the poster competition (1907–1908) organised by ‘Rigascher Kunstverein’ (Riga Art Society) to find the best solution to advertise society’s exhibitions in the recently opened Riga City Art Museum. Campenhausen’s poster features the image the sacred grove, the cradle of mystic spirituality important for National Romanticism. The poster can be perceived as a modernised interpretation of Arnold Böcklin’s work ‘Sacred Grove’ (1882) in the vein of Art Nouveau, comparable also to decorative solutions of Gustav Klimt. Fifteen years later, Campenhausen created another poster, announcing the lottery of the German Baltic Charitable Institution (1923) and depicting a fashionable young woman with a cornucopia.
11

Rigas pilsetas udenstornu arhitektura 19. un 20. gs. mija Eiropas arhitekturas konteksta

75%
Karlstrema I.
Makslas Vesture un Teorija
|
2013
|
vol. 16
37-48
EN
In the 19th century European cities faced water supply problems caused by industrialisation and urbanisation; in most cities, including Riga, much attention was paid to the issue in the late 19th - early 20th century when the majority of water towers were constructed. Water towers represent a typical 19th century phenomenon; it was quite short-lived in the history of architecture but notable for the manifold architectonic and stylistic solutions. Riga’s municipality supplied the city inhabitants with pure drinking water before the First World War, constructing two ground-water lines from Bukulti and four water towers in total: two water towers in the Moscow Suburb in the late 19th century (1897-1899) and two early 20th century water towers - in Agenskalns (1909-1910) and in Ciekurkalns (1912-1913). Both of these functioned throughout the 20th century and are still standing today. The tanks of all four Riga’s late 19th - early 20th century water towers are built according to Intze type 2; in addition, Otto Intze himself designed the water tower for the Moscow Suburb. As the water tower was a relatively new type of building, there were no architectural standards and this lack of examples was compensated for by drawing parallels with the surrounding buildings or other historical types of constructions, according to Historicist practice. Also in the late 19th century water tower façades most often conformed to Historicist stylistics but the rational spatial structure - the highly raised water tank - did show more and more in the building’s outer appearance. During the period of Art Nouveau, water towers acquired new architectonic solutions and more abstract forms; new constructive and artistic means became widespread, such as simplifying, rounding and softening of forms, introduction of new materials and constructions, and demonstration of these on the façade. Forms reflected the building’s functional, constructive framework that was aestheticised as well.
12

Ziemeļu nacionālais romantisms mūra īres namu arhitektūrā Rīgā. Arhitekts Aleksandrs Vanags

63%
Libere A.
Makslas Vesture un Teorija
|
2016
|
vol. 19
32-47
EN
The aim of this article is to introduce the reader to the residential houses designed by Aleksandrs Vanags (1873–1919) in the style of Nordic National Romanticism, looking at not just the textbook examples but also at less well known buildings. Vanags has left a considerable legacy in the architecture of Latvia. Some one hundred buildings were constructed after his designs during the peak of his activity from 1906 to 1914. These were mainly multi-storey apartment houses in Riga and around forty private and public buildings outside Riga. The buildings examined in the article illustrate the flourishing and decline of Nordic National Romanticism that prevailed in Vanags’ work until this trend was progressively supplanted by Neo-Classicism. The layout of premises and organisation of amenities in Vanags’ projects were realised in line with the requirements of the time by providing maximum sunlight in the rooms and a window in every household premise in the large many-room apartments. As the layout of premises is conditioned by the commissioner’s means as well as the form and position of the building plot, Vanags’ apartment houses feature both typical and very original solutions for the period. Bays and risalits were used to diversify the building layout in the city centre, often creating a different layout for each storey of the house. During the period of Nordic National Romanticism, building façades show a laconic approach to ornamentation, largely applying a flat décor, often complemented with contrasting materials and types of finish. In some cases geometric ornament plastered on the façades is enriched with individual glazed tiles or mosaic. Looking at the building volumes of masonry apartment houses, some especially popular construction elements stand out, such as circular corner bays with dome-shaped roofing or open balcony, the use of chamfered and diverse triangular gables and massive closed balconies.
13

ANDOR DUDITS A DOZVUKY PRERAFFAELISTICKÝCH INŠPIRÁCIÍ NA JEHO KOŠICKEJ MAĽBE

63%
Herucová M.
ARS
|
2020
|
vol. 53
|
issue 1
35 – 54
EN
Budapest painter Andor Dudits (*1866 – 1944) created a monumental wall painting in honour of Francis II Rákóczi in the Cathedral of St Elizabeth in Košice from 1914 to 1916. It belonged to one of the last adaptations of the topic of anti-Habsburg resistance in painting in the Hungarian Kingdom. It was created based on a competition organized by the State Monuments Commission. With it, Dudits continued his previous Art Nouveau works in the sacral space (Bačka Topola, 1908; Brezno, 1909). Its concept and composition can be compared to the painting The Bridge of Life by Walter Crane, which was exhibited in the form of a graphic in Budapest. The impression of a mosaic, golden background, the look of Rákóczi’s mother Jelena Zrinska, and a funeral procession point also to other Pre-Raphaelite inspirations.
14

WALLPAPER FROM THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY IN THE COLLECTION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL INVESTIGATION GROUP (19. - 20. gs. mijas tapetes SIA 'Arhitektoniskas izpetes grupa' kolekcija)

63%
Luse L.
Makslas Vesture un Teorija
|
2008
|
vol. 11
20-33
EN
This article analyses wallpaper design from a rather narrow period - the turn of the centuries (from 1890s to 1914) and uses original materials found in the archives of Architectural Investigation Group (AIG). The AIG archives host one of the largest historical wallpaper collections in Latvia. It is predominantly comprised of wallpaper samples from the turn of the 20th century (360 units in total). This is a particularly prominent period in Latvian art history with its pluralism of stylistic schools, new tendencies in visual arts and quests for unified interior ensembles characteristic of Art Nouveau, all of which is well reflected in wallpaper design. The collection's samples can be classified according to their material as well as stylistic tendencies in ornament design. Depending on the characteristics of the material, two main groups can be distinguished: smooth wallpaper (339 samples in total) and relief wallpaper (21 sample). Smooth wallpaper is made of paper - the most popular material. Most of the collection consists of the so-called natural wallpaper, whereby one of the motif colours or background colour is supplied by the actual paper mass (approximately 210 samples). Usually this type of wallpaper is printed using glue-based paint with 2 to 6 tones. The second type of smooth wallpaper is manufactured by printing the ornament separately on an already coloured surface (121 samples). The third type of wallpaper imitates the texture of velvet fabric and is also classed as smooth wallpaper (8 samples). Relief wallpaper was manufactured from paper mass as well as other materials. Lincrust wallpaper was among one of the best and long-lasting types of such wallpaper.
15

ACCOMPLISHMENT OF ART NOUVEAU AESTHETIC PRINCIPLES IN THE JOURNAL 'VEROTAJS' ('OBSERVER') (Jugendstila estetisko principu istenojums zurnala 'Verotajs')

63%
Pujate I.
Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
|
2003
|
vol. 3
EN
The Latvian literary journal 'Verotajs' ('Observer') that brought about qualitative changes in the graphic design of periodicals was published from 1903 till 1905. 'Verotajs' introduced the Art Nouveau style that developed to the full extent in the almanac 'Zalktis' ('Grass-Snake') some years later. At the same time the new journal announced the outset of national style in the design of local periodicals. Latvian artists started to draw original vignettes for each particular journal to replace standardized, imported ones. The journal's design shows Art Nouveau aesthetic principles: creation of a unified artistic whole, predomination of nature motifs and curved, fluent linear rhythms, correspondence between the emotional moods of the miniature work and the literary text. The artist Janis Rozentals had an important role in this development. He made vignettes for each chapter, thus creating a certain systematic arrangement that helped readers to orient themselves. It is likely that the routine arrangement of text and illustrations was changed after Rozentals' suggestion. The new page layout contained one column that was more distanced from margins and the space between lines was increased. The artist Julijs Madernieks made the greatest number of vignettes. He was mostly inspired by nature and ornament interpreted according to Art Nouveau patterns. Some landscape-like vignettes were made by the artist Vilhelms Purvitis. They feature Art Nouveau decorative stylisation and Symbolist mood. Eduards Brencens followed Purvitis' ascetic trend, but his works show more emphasis on white surface. There are also vignettes by Rihards Zarins and Oskars Steinbergs in the journal. Some of vignette designers for 'Verotajs' are still unknown. It is possible to suppose that ten works signed 'MP' were created by the cabinet-maker Martins Pagasts who was popular in Riga at the turn of the 20th century. One vignette was possibly drawn by Indrikis Zeberins.
16

MOTIFS IN THE DECOR OF ART NOUVEAU ARCHITECTURE IN RIGA AND THEIR ORIGINS (Rigas jugendstila perioda arhitekturas dekora motivi un to izcelsme)

51%
Grosa S.
Makslas Vesture un Teorija
|
2009
|
vol. 12
5-21
EN
As soon as Art Nouveau began to appear in the architectural decor of Riga at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, depictions of nature became increasingly popular. Of course, there was not just the main and specific Art Nouveau approach, which Robert Schmutzler cleverly described as 'Biological Romanticism', there were also other ways of approaching the natural world. Paul Greenhalg has described this as 'symbolic conventionalization', pantheism, metamorphosis and evolutionism. Pantheism became the main strategy for interior design at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Riga, particularly insofar as vestibules are concerned. By contrast, façades manifested ideas of conventional Symbolism or of metamorphosis and evolutionism. Stylisation of natural motifs was one of the most popular techniques in designing wallpaper and stenciled decor on walls. Specialist publications had a major influence when it came to selecting the range of colours and ornamentation and since the mid 19th century their number had increased very rapidly. In Riga, as in several other provincial centres in the Russian Empire, Historicism played a particularly important role in architectural décor. When architects and designers began to move toward Art Nouveau it was often in the context of a reinterpretation of motifs that were popular in various neo-styles. New meaning was also attached to motifs and subjects that had been tested in the decorative arts and remained well known in the latter half of the 19th century and whose sources were to be found in various popular publications such as the ornamental handbook by Franz Sales Meyer, the edition 'Alegorien un Embleme' issued by Martin Gerlach, etc.
first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.