A NOTABLE PERSONALITY IN LATVIAN ART OF THE 20TH CENTURY. CREATIVE, EMOTIONALLY RICH AND SENSITIVE – A TRUE TREASURE OF LATVIAN ART.

EVERY AUTUMN SINCE 2001 TIFĀNA ART GALLERY HAS PRESENTED AN EXHIBITION OF THIS ARTIST’S WORKS. THESE EXPOSITIONS DIFFER IN CHARACTER AND ATMOSPHERE, AND BROADEN THE PERSPECTIVE ON THE CREATIVE HISTORY OF THIS GREAT LATVIAN ARTIST.

THE CREATIVE PERSONALITY OF JĀNIS PAUĻUKS WAS FORMED UNDER VERY COMPLEX SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES. IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE 1950S HIS DECADENT VISION OF HIS PATH WAS CONSIDERED BOTH TROUBLESOME AND SUBVERSIVE. EVEN LATER THESE ATTITUDES DIDN’T CHANGE MUCH, AS ATTESTED BY THE FREQUENT EXPELLING AND RE-ADMITTANCE OF THE ARTIST AS A MEMBER OF THE ARTISTS’ UNION OF THE LATVIAN SSR.

AT THIS TIME ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM WAS ALREADY MAKING ITS MARK ON THE WORLD. ONE OF ITS BRIGHTEST STARS, JACKSON POLLOCK (1912 – 1956), WHO DESCRIBED HIS STYLE THUS: “WHEN I AM IN MY PAINTING, I’M NOT AWARE OF WHAT I’M DOING,” WAS THE INITIATOR OF A WORLD OF NEW ART FORMS, INSTINCTIVE AND SENSUALLY PERSUASIVE…

IN MOSCOW A BREATH OF FRESH AIR WAS PROVIDED BY ARTISTS OF THE NON-CONFORMIST MOVEMENT, AMONG THEM – ANATOLY ZVEREV (1931 – 1986).

THE VARIOUS PERIODS OF JĀNIS PAUĻUKS’ CREATIVE HISTORY ARE A BRIGHT TESTAMENT OF THE ESSENTIAL TRUTHS OF HIS ART, WHICH WITH THEIR VISUAL DYNAMISM, SOPHISTICATED INNER STRUCTURING AND EXPRESSIVE USE OF COLOUR STAND OUT IN EXQUISITE RELIEF AGAINST THE CONTEXT OF LATVIAN ART OF THE 20TH CENTURY.

TEXT BY ILZE KUIÐELE, DIRECTOR, TIFANA ART GALLERY