Exhibition to mark the legacy of Romans Suta

Romans Suta (1896–1944) was painter, graphic artist, stage and costume designer, master of applied arts, designer, book illustrator, art critic and pedagogue. He was recognised by his specific artistic manner and style, thanks to the fact, that he worked in various fields of art and created different types of artworks. It seems, that he had discovered a universal art formula, that helped him to be so diverse and yet to be so whole in his art.

In the exhibition «Romans Suta — 120. Universal Formula of Art», that will take place in exhibition halls of Latvian National Museum of Art and Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, there will be a focus on all of these things, as well as on his unusual personality — temperamental, controversial, enthusiastic.

Although Suta didn’t have a higher art education, he was very erudite and excellent painter, who tried to embrace modernism in Latvian art. Suta also popularised creative work of Latvian modernism artists in foreign countries by organising exhibitions outside Latvia and writing about it for the foreign press. In the Great Exhibition Hall at the main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art paintings, graphic art and set and costume designs by Suta will be exhibited. Artworks will be «commented» by Romans Suta himself with fragments from his theoretical texts, letters and articles. Necessary context also will be made from Suta’s striking biographical episodes, that in one or another way influenced subjects, themes and execution of his work.

The exhibition hall of the Museum of Decorative Art and Design plans to present a part of the creative heritage of Suta that has not been studied much before — applied art and design, as he was one of the first persons in Latvia to purposefully develop the link «consumer–producer–artist». Suta will be presented in a new light as a multifaceted personality of his time and the new country, to present the master not only as a painter and graphic artist but also as one of the artists who laid the foundation for the Latvian design school.

On April 27, an international conference, open to general public, will take place at the Latvian National Museum of Art. Experts from Latvia, France, Germany and Russia will give lectures on the legacy of Romans Suta and questions about the interaction of art and design will be also discussed.

The exhibition will be open from April 29 to June 18 at the Museum of Decorative Art and Design, Skārņu iela 10/20, Riga, while the exposition at the Latvian National Museum of Art will be on view from April 29 until July 9. More information on the exhibition and its satellite events can be found on the homepage of the museums.