The magazine deals with processes and topical issues of history and theory related to visual arts in Latvia. Materials include articles resulting from in-depth research, documents and archival materials, book reviews and chronicles of scholarly life of the discipline. The magazine has international editorial board, including art historians form Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Germany and Poland.
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Keywords: Latvian art theory; art history; aesthetics; symbolism; Neo-Romanticism; Marxism; modernism; Activism; formalism; intuitivism; nationalist ideology
This volume is the first in the series of doctoral dissertations initiated by the Institute of Art History of the Latvian Academy of Art and intended to make art-historical research more accessible to a wider public. The book provides an historical survey of ideas in Latvian art theory (1900–1940) so far not examined in detail. General problems regarding visual arts are in focus, particularly definitions of art. Texts under scrutiny have been selected from a wide variety of sources – books, collected articles, magazines, newspapers, unpublished manuscripts, diaries, etc., authored by artists, poets, critics, historians and representatives of other professions. The influx of radical changes in Latvian artistic practice since the late 1980s has also increased the role of theoretical statements, inviting elucidation of historical precedents. Where should one draw the line between acceptable and even necessary “alien” elements and blind submission to foreign avant-garde examples? The conclusion that Latvian culture exists at the cross-roads of the most diverse influences reveals a persistent situation of choice that is not only a matter of the history of art theory but also of theoretical thinking on art in the present.
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Keywords: Johann Daniel Felsko; Riga architecture; Historicism; Neo-Gothic; Neo-Renaissance; round-arch style; sacred architecture; public buildings; residential houses
Johann Daniel Felsko (1813–1902) is the first Master Builder of Riga who received academic training and held the title of City Architect. After journeyman’s travels and studies of architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, the most prominent North European centre of artistic education in that time, he returned to his native city. Felsko belongs to the first generation of Historicist architects. His four decades of creativity illustrate the appearance and development of Neo-Gothic, Neo-Renaissance and round-arch style in the biggest Baltic port city of the Russian Empire. Daina Lāce’s monograph is based on her PhD dissertation that was defended at the Latvian Academy of Art in 2010, and its publication celebrates the 200th anniversary of the architect’s birth. The volume includes extensive English and German summaries
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Keywords: Riga Dom Cathedral; medieval architecture; sacred buildings; architectural sculpture; plastic décor; capitals; motifs; construction history
Riga Dom Cathedral and its monastery is an outstanding example of medieval architecture in Latvia and the oldest brick architecture ensemble in the Baltic region. It was the first major artistic achievement of ancient Livonia. For the first time the rich 13th century architectural sculpture of the Dom Cathedral is extensively and thoroughly examined as an indispensable part of the ensemble in the context of construction history of church and monastery. An attempt has been made to establish the regional specificity of Riga Dom ensemble in comparison with Europe’s other sacred buildings. The publication contains annotated catalogue of Dom Cathedral’s architectural sculpture in Latvian and German as well as an extensive summary in German. Agnese Bergholde’s monograph is based on her PhD work defended at the Latvian Academy of Art in 2011.
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Keywords: Riga architecture; urban planning; fortifications; sacred architecture; secular buildings; dwelling houses; Rupert Bindenschu; Baroque; Classicism; architectural finish; gables; portals; windows;
The 17th century was a period of significant transformations in the architecture of Riga. The medieval town turned into a modern-time Baroque city. This complex process was exemplified by a diverse spectrum of phenomena – reconstruction program of fortifications, architecture of sacred, public and residential buildings as well as their décor. The study of Baroque Riga’s changing visual image and relevant international sources is supplied with a rich array of images from Latvian and foreign archives, museums and libraries. The publication is based on the doctoral dissertation defended at the Latvian Academy of Art in 2010. The volume includes extensive English and German summaries.
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Keywords: Sanatorium architecture in Latvia; healthcare architecture; sanatorium movement in Europe; Functionalism; Ernests Štālbergs; Kārlis Bikše; Aleksandrs Klinklāvs;
This study is an analytical survey of sanatoriums built and arranged in the Republic of Latvia during the inter-war period, broadening the view on the healthcare architecture at that time. In Latvia's history of sanatorium architecture that began in the 1870s and lasted till the 1980s, the 1920s-30s saw the peak of the sanatorium construction type as a well-considered, stylistically consistent architectural object, organically blending in with the landscape and surrounding buildings. Leading architects of the time, like Ernests Štālbergs, Kaŗlis Bikše and Aleksandrs Klinklāvs, have greatly contributed to the development of Latvia's sanatoruium architecture. Because of specific requirements for sanatoriums, the researched objects are mostly located outside Riga - in rural areas and former resorts throughout Latvia. The book contains a summary of 7000 words and an a list of images in English.
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