Boriss Bērziņš

The series „Classics of Latvian Art” presents a book about  Boriss Bērziņš (1930–2002).

Boriss Bērziņš on the Latvian art scene in the second half of the 20th century was based on the artist’s independent stance along with his outstanding talent – a source of unending admiration among contemporaries. The painter’s perfect vision, in combination with his brilliant draughtsmanship and endlessly searching mind, permitted him to create works that astounded contemporaries and stimulated them to abstract themselves in their own artistic quests from the self-evident ideological pressure characterising the cultural milieu of that time in Soviet Latvia. Choosing simple subjects from life as the basis for his work, he seemingly re-opened the vista of the unlimited expressive possibilities offered by painting, permitting it to manifest itself as vivid, wise and charged with energy from the spirit of the age and from a powerful personality. His oeuvre – paintings and drawings alike – manifests a paradoxical transition from the ugly to the beautiful, from the mundane to the sublime, from the inexhaustible heritage of the classics to the radically contemporary.

Laima Slava

The series „Classics of Latvian Art” includes books of medium size, offering an easily perceptible information about Latvian classical artists and their works. Similar to the „STUDIJA Library” the series „Classics of Latvian Art” is intended as bilingual (Latvian/English), richly illustrated publications. An attractive supplement at the end of each book is a timeline where the life of Latvian artists can be viewed within the context of world events, revealing connections, parallels or just interesting coincidences.