This weekend, Latvijas pasts issued a new block of stamps dedicated to the world-famous Latvian avant-garde artist Gustavs Klucis. This is the fifth edition of the stamp series “Outstanding Latvian Artists”, which started in vain for Janis Rozentāls on his 150th anniversary year.
The artist Dinere depicts despair in a stamp dedicated to Gustav KlucisBaiba Kušķe
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Stamp design is a special art genre that requires a lot of information, intrigue and deep messages in a very small format – admits the author of this cycle, artist Lilija Dinere. Gustavs Klucis is a world-class artist and at the same time a very tragic personality – and she has also emphasized this in the stamps dedicated to him.
Stamps are not just a means of refunding postal items. They are also newspapers about the country, so their design and plot are very carefully thought out.
On average, Latvijas Pasts issues 20 – 25 stamps every year, some of them also in series.
On the 150th anniversary of Janis Rozentāls, the idea of a series dedicated to outstanding artists emerged, and Rozentāls was also the first to have a stamp block dedicated in 2016. This was followed by stamps dedicated to Jānis Tīdemanis, Ansim Cīrulis and Johan Valters, and this weekend there was a gift for Gustav Klucis, on his 125th anniversary.
The artist of the series is Lily Diner, and her performance always includes a block of two stamps. One of them shows a reproduction of the work of a particular artist, the other – a portrait of the artist painted by Lilija Dinere, which is like a dialogue with the present.
The portrait of Gustav Kluc is the most tragic of all ever made. Against this background, as a contrasting artist, he has placed two photographs of his youth, where he still looks at the world with sparkling eyes, hopes, ambitions and self-confidence. He can already be seen in the foreground as a completely destroyed personality, says Lilija Dinere:
” The frontal portrait itself is painted from a small picture from the KGB archives, where he can be seen tortured in custody. And I painted a miniature of that photo with acrylic on watercolor paper. And it was really interesting for me – I felt like I was talking to him.
And in his eyes I saw despair, and I also wanted to show that despair, because he did not understand what … How many did not understand what was destroyed during the Stalinist terror. And the photo was taken about a month before he was shot.
I wanted to show his destiny on the postage stamp. Let him address us from this stamp, remind us that there has been a time that we must be vigilant about all the time, and we must not allow something like this to happen again. ”
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Before the tragic end of his life, Klucis, who lived in Russia, was praised as an outstanding innovator with special merits in the development of graphic design and poster art.
Today, his works are the most in demand of all Latvian artists, and the world’s leading museums of modern art regularly exhibit them alongside other avant-garde greats of the 20th century.
As a reference to his work, Lilija Dinere has included in the stamp block reproductions of his works “Construction”, which are in the collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art and very vividly describe his handwriting.
Prior to the development of stamps, Lilija Dinere, as always, delved very deeply into the artist’s work and personality. She had the closest collaboration with Iveta Derkusova, an art scientist and researcher of Kluča’s creative work, who admits that the stamps have really managed to show the very characteristic code of an avant-garde artist.
” We see all this, both his creative path and his tragic personality in this very small thing here, which is a postage stamp. This story has been told very successfully, tastefully and also in a good graphic performance, ” Derkusova emphasizes.
Lilija Dinere admits that stamp design is really a special art genre, because in miniature form you have to put the essence of very wide information in general, the stamp must also be beautiful, intriguing, and it must also address the philatelic audience.
” It’s such a special genre. It must also not be cluttered. The essence of thought, the essence of an idea must be put. Details are also important to have something to explore so that you can go deeper.
When working with stamps, I understood the specifics that a message must be placed in that small, small square.
This cycle is also very important because there is one painting from the Latvian National Museum of Art, we also show at least a small part of the riches stored in our museum with this edition, ” says the artist.
Promoting our artistic values has also been one of the reasons why the series was launched – admits Edmunds Bebrišs, Director of the Postage Stamps and Philately Department of Latvijas pasta. In his opinion, the new stamp has been both informatively rich and aesthetically very attractive.
Series “Outstanding Latvian Artists” Latvijas Pasts will continue in the coming years. It is created in consultations with the Latvian National Museum of Art and art historians.
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