Vilhelms Purvītis (1872–1945), the creator and most modernist of the national landscape painting, has been recognized as one of the main personalities in the visual art of the first half of the 20th century in Latvia. At the turn of the century, the masterful painter of snow and early northern spring was observed in St. Petersburg, Paris, Munich, Berlin, Vienna and other European art centers. The best-known representative of Baltic modern art was equally involved in the new changes in the landscape genre, gaining success abroad, authority in the art life of Riga and a consistently high status in the world of Latvian art.
The name of the European Latvian classic has become one of the symbols of national identity in the history of Latvian art and public perceptions. In the form of poetic archetypes, “purvytis” images, motifs and moods retain their presence in the sense and vision of our landscape. The overall image of the native Nordic nature created by the painter, as well as the classically composed ideal landscapes of Latvia at the turn of the season, is often perceived as a canon of the national landscape.
Purvītis deserves special attention as an implementer of the idea of higher art education and a co-creator of cultural policy in the independent state of Latvia, as the first rector of the Latvian Academy of Arts and head of the Landscape Workshop and at the same time organizer of representative international exhibitions.
The anniversary retrospective dedicated to the landscape artist includes a selection of works from various creative periods from the collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art – the largest collection of the artist’s paintings and graphics, supplemented by exhibits from Liepaja and Tukums museum collections and several private collections – Belēviči family, Andris
Purvītis’ artistic self-development and stylistic change in the exhibition reveal everything from plein-air studios and neo-romantic landscapes to the vast panoramas of the national tradition marked by classical traditions and majestic interiors.
