Classical Modernism. Early 20th Century Latvian Painting tells about the most admired generation of Latvian artists. By the beginning of the First World War, when modernism first appeared in Latvia, avant-garde movements had already established themselves as a vivid element of Western consciousness. Although a latecomer in this context, Latvian  modernism can be regarded professionally as equal to the output of other countries and constituting an essential strand within the historical processes of European culture. In Latvian painting, the expressions of Classical Modernism were determined by historical circumstances as well as by the character and spirit of the people, and were restricted to particular movements: Cubism, Fauvism, and New Objectivity. With the exception of Jāzeps Grosvalds, who had trained in Paris,  the up-and-coming Latvian artists first became acquainted with Cubism and other contemporary  approaches to the simplification of form in the galleries of Moscow; only after 1922 were they able to visit Paris and Berlin. The period of Classical Modernism in Latvian painting lasted in total about a decade and involved experiments in the synthesis of form by members of the Riga Group of Artists: Jēkabs Kazaks, Ģederts Eliass, Romans Suta, Oto Skulme, Uga Skulme, Jānis Liepiņš, Valdemārs Tone, Konrāds Ubāns, and Niklāvs Strunke. In the era of creativity following the First World War, replete with avant-garde approaches to form, these young artists were engaged in a learning process while simultaneously in search of contemporary expression, and through attaining professional maturity, they developed remarkable styles of their own.

Contacts: Dace Krecere-Vule, dace@neputns.lv