Silvija Freinberg's book about the painter Otīlija Leščinskas is published by Neputns publishing house.
The complex and often heroic course of the artists at the turn of the last century still hides a lot in the harsh conditions of the turn of the century. Among the recently discovered words is also the painter Otīlija Leščinska.
I would like to offer a semi-documentary story about one of the first, currently little-known Latvian artists, Otilija Leščinskas, who once participated in the 1905 revolution and was one of the pioneers of modernist art in Latvian painting. The course of Otilija Leščinskas' life is part of the rather difficult years of Latvian public life (1884–1923), which is also reflected in the text, and it is accompanied by tragic lifelong love (1905 fighter Kristaps Salniņš) and unexplained death in the Finnish river. There are also other personalities of his time, letters and memories of contemporaries.
Silvija Freinberga
The author's story is distinguished by looking at the scene of the era, socio-political events and certain social formations in human relations at a time when changes in the world map and human destinies were slowly formed. Relying on documentary sources, the work of a detective, summarizing facts - variously documented, described in letters, found in archives - makes this story-based study a compelling, of quite complex and purposeful persona, and therefore more effective historical cognitive material. The book is illustrated with the widest possible range of images, including both documentary photographs and postcards, and, of course, reproductions of Otīlija Leščinska's work.
More about the book:
Zigfrīds Muktupāvel's talk with the author Silvija Freinberga in "Kultūras rondo"