Latvijas Makslas akademijas Ainavu glezniecibas meistardarbnica pirmas brivvalsts makslas kritikas vertejuma

• Authors: Kristine Ogle

Title variants

EN

LANDSCAPE PAINTING MASTER CLASS OF THE LATVIAN ACADEMY OF ART AS INTERPRETED IN LATVIAN INTER-WAR ART CRITICISM

• Languages of publication: LV

Abstracts

EN

From 1924 until 1942 the Landscape Painting Master Class of the Latvian Academy of Art presented the work of its pupils at 16 Academy exhibitions. Examining the reviews of these shows published in the inter-war periodicals, it seems important to note that the artist’s individuality comes to the foreground since the first exhibition. This is especially the case with regard to the Landscape Master Class headed by Vilhelms Purvitis (1872-1945) whose students are initially blamed for imitating the master’s style. Over time, art critics gradually notice in the budding landscapists’ works not just the influence of Purvitis but of other Latvian artists, too. Authorities representing other genres have also been mentioned such as Valdemars Tone, Janis Liepins, Gederts Eliass and Oto Skulme. Apart from local artists, foreign masters such as Maurice de Vlaminck, Nicholas Roerich, Konstantin Bogayevsky or even entire national schools, for example, the popular Belgian painting, also played their role. Thanks to the Belgian impulses, Purvitis’ students enhanced their experiments in painterly qualities, taking advantage of strong colours, pronounced brushwork and formal finish in a wider sense. However, ‘bright Western European impulses’ were often an invitation to hide imperfect drawing behind a virtuoso brushwork which was usually noticed and criticised by keen observers of art life. It is well known that Purvitis considered thorough studies of nature to be the primary task of landscape painting in both his individual creativity and pedagogical practice. Still, attaining the ideal balance between plain natural forms and the most suitable expressive means, typical of Purvitis’ own art, was often hard for his students. However, this process gradually developed the individual style of each future landscapist. Firstly, art critics detect growing autonomy in the landscapists’ attempts to develop individual expressive traits such as the tonal approach or contrasting colours, the search for a unique type of brushwork or compositional schemes closest to their vision. Secondly, the future landscape painters, stimulated by the Head of the Master Class, try to define their favourite scope of subjects, thus revealing a very wide spectrum of Latvian landscapes. Thirdly, observers especially praise the young landscapists’ ability to include figural motifs in their canvases as well.

Keywords

EN

LANDSCAPE PAINTING; VILHELMS PURVITIS; LATVIAN ACADEMY OF ART; ART CRITICISM

• Publisher: Publishing House 'Neputns', Terbatas iela 49/51-8, Riga LV-1011, Latvia; www.neputns.lv
• Journal: Materiali Latvijas makslas vesturei
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 8
• Pages: 150-164

Contributors

author

Kristine Ogle

• Latvian Academy of Art, Kalpaka bulvaris 13, Riga LV-1867, Latvia