Purve Karlis Wilhelm (1872-1945)

Latvian artist, a master of landscape, representative of Art Nouveau, one of the founders of contemporary Latvian art. He was born on a farm near Riga Yauzhi February 20 (March 3) in 1872 to a peasant family. He studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1890-1895) at AIKuindzhi . In 1898 he visited Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Dusseldorf. Many traveled to Western Europe, visiting Iceland and Svalbard. He worked in Riga and various rural areas of Latvia (until 1906 and 1909), as well as in Tallinn (1906-1909). In 1917-1919 he lived in Norway. Was a member of the circle "Rukis" ("Worker"), which included students of the Latvian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg (late 1880s - 1900) and the Society for the Encouragement of Arts Riga (Riga or kunstfereyna).

 After earlier romantic and impressionistic searches developed his mature style, which developed in line with the Northern Art Nouveau. Chose a relatively simple natural motifs are usually devoid of any plot and the human element. Following the seasonal biases modernity, especially liked to depict spring and winter. Among its typical things - Last Snow (1897-1898, Russian Museum), Early Spring (1900), March (about 1900), In the Garden of Viesturs (c. 1914) Summer Evening (1936), Landscape with haystacks (c. 1936), when awakened Forest (c. 1936 all the work - at the Art Museum of Latvia, Riga).

 Very successfully worked as a teacher: he was the director of the Riga City Art School (1909-1916), in 1919 transformed into the Latvian Academy of Arts. In the last Purvitis was rector (1919-1934), leaving the post, continued to lead the landscape workshop. By the end of the Second World War, for fear of arrest (as in "bourgeois Latvia" has held fairly high administrative position), he moved to Germany.

 Purvitis died in Bad Nauheim (Germany) January 14, 1945. In 1994, the artist remains were reburied in Riga.