Graphic art

The extensive graphic art collection comprises more than 10 000 prints (in letterpress, intaglio and planographic printing techniques) and original graphic works, including drawings, watercolours, pastels, collages, book illustrations, ex libris and works of applied graphics dating from the 1700s to the present day.

Some of the most exciting pieces include examples of 19^th-century watercolours: the intricate representational portraits by the naïve artist Karl Ludwig Seebode, who lived and worked in Vidzeme; ethnographic studies of peasants in different countries; and historical and religious works by Julius Johann Döring and Karl Huhn.

The Collection significantly features prominent Latvian artists, including Jāzeps Grosvalds, Niklāvs Strunke, Sigismunds Vidbergs, Ludolfs Liberts and Ilmārs Blumbergs. A special place is dedicated to outsiders and nonconformists like Ādolfs Zārdiņš, Kārlis Padegs, Voldemārs Irbe, Leonīds Āriņš, Gunārs Kļava, Vladimirs Glušenkovs, Māris Ārgalis and Andris Grinbergs. Largely unexplored within the context of Latvian art, Alexander Kramarev Junior’s artistic legacy—comprising more than 2,000 works—is a unique treasure of the Collection.

The collection of graphic art contains many valuable and informative sources of historical evidence, reflecting the collector’s interest in the history of culture and politics. Many objects speak of the development of artistic processes in Latvia and reveal stories of the artists linked to them. These include personal correspondence between artists and other public figures, such as avant-garde mail art letters from Valdis Āboliņš to Barbara Štraka and Jānis Borgs. An art historian, curator, and gallerist, Barbara Štraka organised the legendary ‘Riga: Lettische Avantgarde’ exhibition in Berlin, Kiel and Bremen in the 1980s, while Jānis Borgs, an ‘observer of the arts,’ designer, and art critic, has authored countless publications and is a social activist. He has previously served as the head of Janis Rozentāls Riga Art School and Soros Center for Contemporary Art Riga.

Many items stand out among the collection of unique historical objects, including the originals of art manifestos by Džemma Skulme and Vladimirs Glušenkovs, as well as designs for banknotes of the Republic of Latvia by Jānis Šternbergs and Rihards Zariņš. The Collection also includes an impressive cartography collection featuring maps of Livonia, Prussia, Baltic Sea region and the city of Riga dating from the 1500s until the 1980s.

The collection of graphic art includes numerous humorous works notable for their ironic and witty depiction of historical and political processes. These magazine illustrations, cartoons, caricatures and sketches were created by a number of prominent cartoonists, including brilliant artists like Valērijs Zosts, Sergejs Civinskis-Civis, Romans Suta, Edgars Ozoliņš and Ivars Poikāns.

The posters, magazine and book illustrations, sketches for applied arts objects, propaganda leaflets and flyers held in the Collection provide an insight into the history of propaganda in Latvia.

It is the collection of posters that seems particularly eloquent, recording the history of the last century: from the social and political posters of the interwar period to the heroic realist-style propaganda of the Soviet years. From the 1950s, a new generation of artists developed a more laconic and poetic style. No longer merely a form of mass communication, the poster became a medium of artistic self-expression. The 1970s and 1980s are marked in the Collection as the prime time of Latvian poster art with works by artists like Gunārs Kirke, Georgs  Smelters, Ilmārs Blumbergs, Juris Dimiters and Laimonis Šēnbergs. 

The collection of graphic art abundantly features 1980s and 1990s conceptual art, evidence of the radical art processes and spatial experiments typical for the time and efforts of becoming part of the international art scene following the fall of the Iron Curtain. The zeitgeist is most vividly exampled by the monumental neo-expressionist prints or supergraphics created by artists like Ojārs Pētersons, Kristaps Ģelzis, Juris Artūrs Putrāms, Jānis Mitrēvics, Andris Breže and Vilnis Zābers. 

The collection of contemporary graphic art is being expanded freely, without any pre-defined standards or restrictions. This part of the Collection is growing and becoming increasingly well-rounded thanks to works by talented authors like Roberts Rūrāns, Ausma Šmite, Sabīne Vernere, Rasa Jansone, Zane Tuča, Kaspars Groševs and Jānis Avotiņš. The Japanese artist Takashi Murakami is perhaps the most impressive name among the international artists represented in the Collection.