Liberts (1895-1959). The Hypnotic Brilliance of Art Deco.</p><p>Ludolfs Liberts is one of the brightest exponents of Art Deco in Latvia and its most vivid manifestation is his stage designs. Without exaggeration it may be said that the 1920s-30s at the Latvian National Opera were the era of Liberts. Between 1924 and 1937, altogether he designed 43 and directed 12 productions. Liberts set the tone, influenced his colleagues and was at the centre of attention from critics and spectators alike. His stage designs left no one indifferent: many were thrilled and applauded the set designs, others criticised and attacked him for overgeneralisation, flamboyance and excessive decorativeness. Yet, from today's perspective, it is clear that all of Liberts' accomplishments in this field conform entirely to the style of Art Deco, which is characterised by an inclination towards geometricisation and ornamentalisation of forms, decorativeness, refined graphic qualities, a tendency to enchant and dazzle the viewer. Liberts possessed a phenomenal ability to sense current artistic trends, his sketches for stage designs and costumes show motifs favoured by the artists of Art Deco – skyscrapers, the cascading rhythms of fountains, zigzags and other geometric ornaments. Liberts turned to the heritage of non-European cultures, responded to the widespread Egyptomania and referred to the general fascination with the cinematograph, which influenced theatre and the leading directors of the time.</p><p>Ludolfs Liberts is one of the few modernists outside of the Riga Artists Group. Despite being in close contact with members of the legendary association and having taken part in a number of shared projects (drawing caricatures for the magazine Ho-Ho, decoration of the walls of café Sukub), he never became a full member of the group. The style of his paintings from the 1920s stands apart from the work of his contemporaries. His application of modernist principles suggests an original interpretation of French modern art and Russian Cubo-Futurism. In the 1930s, like many Latvian artists of the time, Liberts also took an active interest in the distant past, freely engaging in fantasies about historical subjects and images. Liberts' numerous cityscapes largely reflect his work in theatre – the artist frequently painted a variety of lighting effects, streets in nightly illumination. In their colour schemes and compositional structure these works to some extent resemble theatre backdrops.</p><p>Liberts' biography is similar to that of other Latvian artists of his generation – he was born in the province, began his art studies in Riga and continued them in Russia (Moscow and Kazan), during World War I found himself at the front. In the 1920s-30s he worked actively in his native land and regularly participated in exhibitions abroad, while towards the end of World War II he was forced to emigrate and spent the rest of his life in the USA. He is among the few Latvian artists to have managed to hold personal exhibitions in Paris (1927), Brussels (1929), Berlin (1930, 1938), Stockholm (1938) and Copenhagen (1938). Liberts also participated in international stage design exhibitions, where his works often received awards. The artist's sketches for theatre, opera and ballet productions are held not only in the depositories of memory institutions in Latvia but also several museums and collections abroad.</p><p>This exhibition is the artist's first retrospective of such magnitude. Most of the works go on public display for the first time. The exhibition presents works from the Latvian National Museum of Art, Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum, Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music, Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation, Gulbene Municipality History and Art Museum, Latvian National Opera, Rietumu Bank, Zuzāns Collection and other private collections.</p><p><br></p>" itemprop="description" />

artist Līga Purmale</a>'s personal exhibition The Garden of Past Pleasures will be presented in the right wing exhibition halls on the 2nd floor of the main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art (Jaņa Rozentāla laukumā 1, Riga), focusing on the artist's fifty-year career, including works from photorealism and up to new creations from this year.</p><p>Līga Purmale (1948) is an outstanding Latvian painter whose oeuvre shows constant formal and thematic development. Since her early childhood the artist spent much time reading and drawing. Therefore, inspired by her mother, Vallija Purmale (who was a drawing teacher at the Dundaga Secondary School), Līga began studies at the Janis Rozentāls Riga Art High School (1961-1968) and, following secondary school, joined the Monumental Painting Workshop at the Teodors Zaļkalns Art Academy of the Latvian SSR (1969-1975) under Indulis Zariņš (1929-1997). Already during her studies, the artist announced herself loudly and unmistakably. In 1974, together with her partner in studies and life, artist Miervaldis Polis (1948), they organised their first shared exhibition in the premises of the photo club Riga in the Central Club of the Polygraphics in Riga. For the first time, both artists presented their works painted in a photorealist style to a broader audience, becoming originators of this trend in Latvia.</p><p>Following her photorealist period (1973-1976), the artist started painting her surrounding environment in close-up – interior elements (Window, 1978) and garden fragments (Yard Corner in Winter, 1977). In these works, with utmost sensitivity, the artist studies the material world, plants, times of the day and seasons. The works represent seemingly restrained yet emotionally observant, casually framed views that simultaneously strive towards documentation of reality and intimacy.</p><p><br></p>" itemprop="description" />

Timofeevs' solo exhibition Other Passengers in the exhibition halls on the fourth floor. This exhibition will combine the most important motifs of the artist's creative practice – inner worlds, language, bureaucracy, the crowd, and the individual. The newly created works will reflect on the world as the coexistence and collision of two parallel and opposing realities, interwoven by a diverse and branching web of relationships.</p><p>Timofeev has long focused on themes in his work that, from both his personal experiences and the perspectives of cultural and societal processes, reflect on the forms of governance and communication maintained by power and political systems, as well as individual experiences, whether striving to integrate, follow, and adhere to these systems or, conversely, rebel against them. This includes questions of identity, language, and communication that arise from human migration and life between different countries, nationalities, territories, and borders, but it can also be tied to specific places and their migration histories.</p><p>Timofeev’s ideas unfold in fantastical environments, combining drawings, paintings, video and installations. The works, often autobiographical, point to the real world and the cognitive dissonance that arises when inner and outer worlds meet, as shared value systems and symbols—frequently cross-cultural—intersect and collide.</p><p>The exhibition is produced by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA) in collaboration with the Latvian National Museum of Art.</p><p><br></p>" itemprop="description" />