Today, we can assess with time that the centenary program of Latvia organized by the Ministry of Culture provided an opportunity to realize ambitious plans, emphasize the most important turning points in the history of our country, as well as implement large international projects. From April 10 to July 15, 2018 An exhibition was on display at the Orsay Museum in Paris “Unaccustomed souls. Symbolism in the Baltic States ”(“ Âmes sauvages. Le symbolisme dans les pays baltes ”) – a joint project of the three Baltic States for a century and one of the largest events of Latvia’s representation abroad.
The exhibition invited French spectators and many thousands of tourists from all over the world to get to know the symbolism of Baltic art from the 1990s to the 1930s. It was also an opportunity to talk about the Baltics, emphasizing the peculiarities of each country’s art, historical heritage and traditions. The project involved a great deal of work from leading cultural and diplomatic institutions, and its importance was underlined by the fact that French Patman Emmanuel Macron became the patron of the exhibition and opened it on 9 April at the Orsay Museum by the presidents of the four countries.
We, who planned and shaped this event from idea to implementation, were to some extent the chosen ones, as the exhibition was not only an international cultural event that attracted 236,079 visitors in 82 days (almost 3,000 a day), but also a continuation of historical events, emphasizing The role of France on the way to the integration of the Baltic States into the common landscape of European art.
The main idea of the exhibition was to reveal to Western Europe that the art of the Baltic States has always been at a high level professionally and that the peculiarities of its character fit into the performance of other countries.
The symbolism, born in France in the second half of the 19th century, influenced all European culture, including Baltic painting and graphics. The range of themes of this direction, which includes the world of mythology, folklore, fantasy, dreams and visions, moods of decadence, is clearly reflected in the works of our outstanding artists Janis Rozentāls, Vilhelms Purvītis, Johans Valters, Pēteris Krastiņš, Rūdolfs Pērle, Teodors Ūders. Lithuania, on the other hand, is represented by such a bright symbolist as Mikalojs Konstantīns Čurļonis, while Estonia is represented by Kristans Rauds and Konrads Megi.
Symbolism began to spread in Europe in the 1990s and had gradually exhausted itself before the First World War, but in the east of the Baltic Sea it developed relatively late. Adopting the principles of this international art direction, which sought to reveal the elusive reality behind the appearance of the physical world, the artists of the Nordic countries, using a great variety of styles, expressed in their compositions both fabulous and timeless moods, and sometimes gloomy and devastating ideas. end of century in the spirit of cosmopolitanism, but also glorified the beauty of nature.
However, the originality of the Baltic art symbolism is most fully characterized by the features of “national romanticism”. The glorification of the homeland, borrowings from folklore and legends, references to the local cultural heritage, including the rich archaeological evidence, are the main vectors for the formation of national identity. Mythological plots will be depicted (Estonian folk epic “Kalevdel”) and landscapes depicting the rhythmic turn of the seasons, there is an abstraction from the real reality and sometimes political symbols are included.
In the first decades of the 20th century, symbolism became the mainstream in the art of the Baltic States, revealing the talents of the three independent states declared at the end of the First World War.
The manifestations of symbolism in the art of the Baltic States in the history of contemporary European art are still a new discovery, because in this direction the views have been directed only towards France for too long.
During the preparation of the exhibition, the ensemble of Baltic museologists came to the conclusion that the project should also be shown at home, and we agreed to continue it in three capitals. After the Orsay Museum, the exhibition took place with great success at the Estonian Art Museum KUMU in Tallinn (11.10.2018–03.02.2019), the next place of the exhibition was the National Art Gallery of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius (24.07. – 11.10.2020). Art Museum in Riga (20.11.2020–04.05.2021). Each of the neighboring museums offers its own vision and contribution of scientific capacity. Governor Rodolfo Rapetti, who is currently the director of the castles and national museums of Compiegne and Blerancourt, continued to work remotely on the project, inquiring about the creation of the exhibition. As each museum has created its exhibition design and visual image in the saga of Baltic symbolism on the basis of the basic concept of the Paris exhibition, LNMM also adds its “Riga accent” to the Orsay Museum version and, while preserving its core, adds its own mood and hue.
The Latvian stage of the symbolism project imposes certain obligations in terms of history, as exhibitions of Baltic artists once took place regularly in the building of the Riga City Art Museum. In 1909, the first exhibition of Parisian artists was shown here, and Lithuanian and Estonian art shows were also held regularly. In the context of the cultural exchange between France and Latvia, an exhibition of French modern art was opened here more than eighty years ago – in March 1939 – and only a few days earlier the Latvian art exhibition at the Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris had ended with great success. named the triumph of Latvian art. During the organization of the exhibition of Baltic symbolism, this fact was mentioned many times at various meetings.
So far, there have been stories, interviews and speeches by foreign partners about the exhibition on Latvian Television. This time, the documentary expands the theme beyond symbolism as an art direction and its boundaries. Art scientist, curator of LNMM exhibitions Dr.art. Dace Lamberga, head of the project “Symbolism in the Art of the Baltic States” Dr.art. Ginta Gerharde-Upeniece, art historian Dr.hcart. Edvarda Šmite, Professor of the Latvian Academy of Arts (LAA) Dr.hab.art. Eduards Kļaviņš, literary critic Pauls Daija, art historian Dr.art. Aija Brasliņa, Leading Researcher of the Institute of Art History of the Latvian Academy of Arts Dr.art. Kristiāna Ābele, poet and cooler of the Estonian epic “Kalevipoegs” in Latvian Guntars Godiņš, music journalist Orests Silabriedis, art restorer Guna Kreislere and director of the Latvian National Museum of Art Māra Lāce.
At this point, we can ask the question, are they not already known and self-evident truths? Is it possible to create a new message by telling the time of the formation of professional art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries? And yet, it is the film that proves the importance of both reminding us of the art of symbolism and the artists who create a common Baltic art scene in such a selection, and of expressing current feelings about the exhibition, as well as recalling how this project was made.
The team, which created the exhibition in Paris, Tallinn, Vilnius and Riga, invested more emotion, knowledge, erudition and time than usual in their daily work. This can be felt in the exhibition and in the film in the reference of the curator Rodolfo Rapetti, in the findings of the president of the Orsay Museum Lorāns Dekārs, as well as in the comments of the directors of the Baltic museums Sirje Helme, Arūnas Gelūnas
Concluding the project of four exhibitions at its beginning and also in Riga, we can conclude that in this aspect we have been chosen in a way, because
The employees of the Baltic museums as a united team were able to pay attention to our countries not only culturally, but also politically and diplomatically.
Loranne Decara repeatedly recalled that Europe is united not only in politics but also in the creation of common cultural values. This conviction, which is one of the cornerstones of the exhibition policy of the Orsay Museum, made it possible to show that the contribution of the lesser-known Baltic artists, along with the works of well-known masters, also belongs to the common European cultural heritage.
We are grateful to Latvian Television, which once went to Paris, to the Orsay Museum to follow the events of the exhibition, diplomatic visits and speeches of the presidents, followed the events in Tallinn and Vilnius, and put all these pieces of the mosaic together in a film that will remain a visual testament to this. special project for the Baltics and all of us.
Symbolism in Baltic art – explore works of art
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