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THE PIEBALGA ART MUSEUM AND FORTUNES OF ITS COLLECTION (Piebalgas makslas muzejs un ta kolekcijas liktenis)

100%

Kalnacs J.

Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei

2003

vol. 3

128-135

The area of Piebalga is noted by several undertakings significant for the history of Latvian culture and society since the 19th century. The Piebalga Art Museum collection was assembled by the Jaunpiebalga-born painter and art critic Jekabs Strazdins (1905-1958) in the late 1930s. This project was probably supported by the Jaunpiebalga and Vecpiebalga parishes, public and economic organizations, as well as by people of culture. Until 1999 this collection was thought to be lost in the events of the World War II. The collection was formed in a short period, probably mostly during the Nazi occupation that was noted by flourishing art market. Quite often it was possible to acquire good artworks in exchange for countryside foodstuffs. The collection included works of about 100 Latvian painters, graphic artists and sculptors, from the first professional artists to graduates of the Latvian Academy of Art in the 1930s. The Piebalga Art Museum was never actually opened but part of its collection was exhibited in temporary premises at Jaunpiebalga Peteris School during the war. The lack of interest in fortunes of this collection may be related to the fact that many artists suffered from Soviet persecutions or left for Western Europe or Scandinavia. After Strazdins' death in 1958 his collection was not kept up. In September 1999, looking for the lost collection of the Piebalga Art Museum, there was an inspection of an abandoned farmstead at Zoseni Parish where Strazdins' relatives had lived. Not only empty frames but also 6 paintings, 1 watercolour and 1 etching were found there. Most of these works were in a poor technical condition. Three more works that are possibly connected with the Piebalga Art Museum collection were discovered in the next two years. The first works, restored with the support of the Latvian Cultural Capital Foundation, were exhibited in autumn 2000 to become a kind of surprise for the local art society. These eleven works that form about ten percent of the total number of the Piebalga Art Museum collection allow to place it among the most prominent collections of Latvian art.

Jēkaba Strazdiņa un viņa mākslas kolekcijas liktenis padomju Latvijā

88%

Kalnačs J.

Makslas Vesture un Teorija

2019

vol. 22

59-75

Painter and art critic Jēkabs Strazdiņš’ (1905–1958) art collection that he gathered from the last pre-war years until his arrest in 1949, included more than 370 works by Latvian artists of the 19th–20th century. The oldest pieces were prints by Oto Bērtiņš and Augusts Daugulis, drawings by Kārlis Hūns, paintings by Arturs Baumanis and Jūlijs Feders along with more works by the former students’ group Rūķis members – Ādams Alksnis, Vilhelms Purvītis, Janis Rozentāls and Johann Walter. Also included were some paintings by the Riga Artists’ Group modernists alongside a large number of paintings, sketches and graphic works by the artist’s contemporaries and even quite a few sculptures complemented by Russian, German, Italian, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, English, Polish, Lithuanian and Estonian artists’ paintings, graphic works, applied art items and old books. Strazdiņš, a docent at the Latvian SSR Academy of Art and the University of Latvia, was arrested together with his wife in March 1949. Like many inhabitants of Latvia, he was charged with counterrevolutionary activity according to the then oft-used article 58 of the RSFSR criminal code. After Strazdiņš’ arrest, his belongings, including some 275 artworks, were confiscated and the Finance Department of the Riga City Stalin District handed them over to the State Latvian and Russian Art Museum (now Latvian National Museum of Art). About a quarter of these works were deemed to be of little value and sold. Strazdiņš’ own works ended up in the State Latvian and Russian Art Museum in a similar way. Part of his property – paintings, prints, crockery, furniture and several hundreds of books – were given to the then State Western European Art Museum (now the Art Museum Riga Bourse). After Joseph Stalin’s death, Strazdiņš’ sentence was reviewed and only in spring 1956 it was reduced to the time already served. Because of poor health, the artist returned to Riga already in 1954 and tried to rejoin artistic life but died in 1958. He managed to regain his works and the greater part of this art collection before death.

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THE PIEBALGA ART MUSEUM AND FORTUNES OF ITS COLLECTION (Piebalgas makslas muzejs un ta kolekcijas liktenis)

Jēkaba Strazdiņa un viņa mākslas kolekcijas liktenis padomju Latvijā