JĀNIS PAUĻUKS WAS BORN IN RIGA, ONE OF FOUR CHILDREN OF A WORKING CLASS FAMILY. AMONG HIS SIBLINGS JÂNIS STOOD OUT FOR HIS SOLITARY NATURE AND CONDUCT. HE WAS BOTH A SENSITIVE DREAMER AND A MISCHIEVOUS IMP.

WHILE STUDYING AT OLAVS SCHOOL OF COMMERCE IN RIGA, JÂNIS HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND DRAWING CLASSES. THESE DETERMINED HIS FATE. HE BECAME AN EXCELLENT DRAUGHTSMAN AND CALLIGRAPHER AND DEVELOPED A STRONG PERSONALITY.

IN 1922 JĀNIS PAUĻUKS EMBARKED ON A SUCCESSFUL CAREER AT THE LAND SURVEY DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE. IN THE 1930S PAUÏUKS WAS IN MUCH DEMAND FOR CALLIGRAPHIC WORK FOR MANY ORGANISATIONS AND GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS. PROMPTED BY HIS COLLEAGUES AND ELDER BROTHER, JĀNIS PAUĻUKS BEGAN TO SERIOUSLY CONSIDER STUDYING AT THE LATVIAN ACADEMY OF ART. HIS EXTENSIVE CALLIGRAPHY WORK AND DILIGENT SELF-TUTORING LED JĀNIS PAUĻUKS TO BE ADMITTED TO THE ACADEMY AS AN EXTERNAL STUDENT. IT WAS 1938 AND JÂNIS WAS 32. HIS JOURNEY AS AN ARTIST STARTED AT THE GRAPHIC ART DEPARTMENT.

IN 1939 JĀNIS PAUĻUKS LEFT HIS WELL-PAID JOB AT THE LAND SURVEY DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, STATING IN HIS RESIGNATION, "I WISH TO STUDY AT THE ACADEMY OF ART WITHOUT HINDRANCE." HAVING COMPLETED HIS FIRST YEAR AT THE ACADEMY OF ART OF LATVIA, HE REALISED THAT PAINTING AND ONLY PAINTING WAS HIS TRUE CALLING. HIS HEART WAS GIVEN TO IT COMPLETELY. JĀNIS PAUĻUKS BECAME A DIFFERENT MAN - HE BECAME AN ARTIST. HIS SERENITY TURNED INTO RESTLESSNESS, HIS SILENCE BECAME IMPATIENT. PAUÏUKS' REMARK ABOUT HIS TASK BEING TO BRING NEW PAINTING APPROACHES INTO LATVIAN ART MAY SEEM AUDACIOUS, BUT IT SPEAKS TO THE CHARACTER OF THIS 32-YEAR-OLD, FULL OF LIFE EXPERIENCE AND SELF-CONFIDENCE, NO LONGER A YOUTH BUT A MAN OF LOFTY GOALS.

JĀNIS PAUĻUKS THREW HIMSELF INTO HIS STUDIES. THANKS TO HIS ENERGETIC NATURE, HE WAS ALSO AT THE EPICENTRE OF A MAELSTROM OF SOCIAL LIFE.

AS THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN LATVIA CHANGED, IN 1941 JĀNIS PAUĻUKS WAS DROPPED FROM THE LIST OF ACADEMY STUDENTS. THIS WAS ALSO THE YEAR WHEN A NOTABLE ERA OF ANOTHER NATURE STARTED IN THE LIFE OF BOTH THE MAN AND THE ARTIST. THE CAUSE OF THIS CHANGE WAS A YOUNG, TALENTED ARTIST NAMED FELICITA. FOR THE FOLLOWING TEN YEARS THEIR LIVES RAN ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER. THESE YEARS WERE FILLED WITH HAPPINESS AS MUCH AS WITH PAIN. AND MORE THAN THAT - THEY SAW THE CREATION OF WONDERFUL WORKS OF ART, FULL OF CONTEMPLATION, LOVE AND HOPE; DISTINCTIVELY ABSTRACT REFLECTIONS OF JĀNIS PAUĻUKS' OWN PERSONAL WORLD. THE ARTIST WROTE TO FELICITA: "PAINTING MUST NOT BE UNDERSTOOD, IT HAS TO BE FELT; LIKE BREATHING - IT CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD, JUST SENSED."

THE MARRIAGE OF JĀNIS PAUĻUKS AND FELICITA DISINTEGRATED IN THE EARLY 1950S. HE KEPT ON WRITING TO FELICITA. FOR HIM, THE NAME "FELICITA" WAS NOT JUST ABOUT MEMORIES. IT ENVELOPED A COMPLETED PERIOD IN ART; THE MOST HEARTFELT AND LYRICAL PERIOD, IRRETRIEVABLE AND IMPOSSIBLE TO CONTINUE. PAUÏUKS HAD TO REINVENT HIMSELF YET AGAIN.

OVER THE FOLLOWING TWENTY YEARS HE WAS CONTINUOUSLY REMOVED FROM THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE LATVIAN ARTISTS' UNION AND THEN REINSTATED AGAIN. FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES NOTWITHSTANDING, THE ARTIST CONTINUED TO PAINT, PERFECTING THE PICTORIAL QUALITIES OF HIS ART, EXPERIMENTING, LOOKING FOR NEW TECHNIQUES IN ORDER TO DELIVER THE CONTENT OF HIS PAINTINGS MORE CLEARLY.

THE 1950S WAS A PERIOD OF RELENTLESS SELF-IMPROVEMENT. PAUÏUKS PAINTED A GREAT NUMBER OF STUDIES, WHICH REFLECT HIS JOURNEY THROUGH COMPOSITIONAL AND TECHNICAL APPROACHES AND SOLUTIONS, AND BEAR TESTIMONY TO HIS SKILL AS A PAINTER. IN THE LATTER HALF OF THE 50S THE ARTIST'S ATTENTION WAS CAPTIVATED BY THE SUN, WHOSE RADIANCE ENCOURAGED HIM TO SEEK NEW WAYS OF EXPRESSION IN CONTENT, TECHNIQUE AND COMPOSITION.

IN THE 60S AND, TO SOME EXTENT, THE 70S, JĀNIS PAUĻUKS' ART REMAINED STABLE IN ITS STYLISTIC MANNER, USING THE EXPRESSIVE MEANS OF CONTEMPORARY PAINTING TO BRING TO LIFE THE IMAGES OF REALISTIC ART. HE RELENTLESSLY SOUGHT NEW TECHNIQUES OF EXPRESSING HIS IDEAS, TRANSFORMING THEM IN HIS OWN SENSITIVE SOUL AND THROUGH HIS EXPRESSIVE MANNER OF PAINTING CREATING A LAYER OF VIVID, VIBRANT COLOURS WITH THE HELP OF PALETTE KNIFE, PAINTING BRUSH AND THE SUBTLE TOUCH OF A FEATHER.

TEXT BY ILZE KUIÐELE, DIRECTOR, TIFANA ART GALLERY