FINE ART OF LATVIA

PRESS RELEASE

The history of Latvian professional art counts for just under two centuries. The first Latvian artists received their professional training in the art centres of Tsarist Russia, mainly in St Petersburg and Moscow, which introduced realism into the tradition of art. In the early part of this century, the trend was further enriched by the influence of new trends in Western European art, such as impressionism, expressionism, spot painting, cubism and fauvism. The main characteristics of Soviet Latvian art today, even in all its diversity, are realistic depiction of life, reduced form, the study of colour and the development of a personal colour expression. At the same time, the diversity and individuality of the artistic handwriting is characteristic.

For an insight into the overall image of Latvian contemporary art, see the exhibition at the Pori Art Museum, featuring 45 leading artists. Among them are Leo Svemps (1897-1975), professor and rector of the Latvian Academy of Fine Arts, Indulis Zarinš (b.1929), professor at the Latvian Academy of Fine Arts and holder of the title of People’s Artist of the Latvian National Academy of Fine Arts, and Džemma Skulme (b.1925), also a Latvian National Artist of the Latvian National Academy of Fine Arts.

The Latvian visual arts exhibition was part of the cultural exchange programme between the sister cities of Pori and Riga in 1982.

Translated with DeepL