Life

Janis Rozentāls was a Latvian painter.

Rozentāls received the basic education at H.Krause's Elementary School in Saldus and Kuldīga District School. At the age of fifteen the boy left for Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

 and consistently tried to realize his dream about art, later entering St.Petersburg Academy of Art. During study vacations the developing artist visited his native land to relax from the hectic rhythm of the large city, paint motifs from nature and commissioned portraits. For his diploma work he took as models the young educated Latvians and local farmers.
A little later the artist decided to settle in Saldus as he wanted to live among his people and create art appropriate to its aspirations and feelings. In spring 1899 Rozentāls bought a building plot at the Striķu street and set up a studio, but his intents were not well received in the provincial town and he moved to Riga two years later. Now a memorial museum is arranged in the building designed by the artist.
Fateful turn in life of the painter happened in November, 1902, when Janis Rozentāls got acquainted with Elli Forsell(1871–1943), a Finnish singer, in Riga. On February 20, 1903, they got married. They found home in a flat- studio, in Alberta street, in Riga. they had three children - Laila, Irja and Miķelis.
World War I interrupted the family's life in Riga and in 1915 they relocated to Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. He died suddenly on December 26, 1916 and was buried in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, though later was reburied in his homeland.
Today, the Janis Rozentāls Art Highschool in Riga is named after him, and has had his name since 1946.

Creative work

The scope of Rozentāls' activities was very wide, but painting was of paramount importance. He revealed the beauty of nature, demonstrated the integrity of man and nature. In Rozentāls' works the linear coexisted with the picturesque, flatness - with a soft transition of tones, small touches of paint - with wast surfaces of color. The main trait of his compositions was asymmetry

Asymmetry

Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry.-In organisms:Due to how cells divide in organisms, asymmetry in organisms is fairly usual in at least one dimension, with biological symmetry also being common in at least one dimension....

, the wavelike rhythm of Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

.

Rozentāls painted many portraits. The creative potential of the artist revealed itself in the portraits of persons spiritually close to him. Rozentāls made several portraits of the patron of writers and artists A.Dombrovskis, writer Rūdolfs Blaumanis

Rudolfs Blaumanis

Rūdolfs Blaumanis was a Latvian writer, journalist and playwright. He is considered one of the greatest writers in Latvian history and particularly a master of realism...

, artist's wife Elli Forsell.

Janis Rozentāls interested in the biological nature of man - the world of passions, the love theme, was typical of his time. He used the popular Biblical plots "Temptation", "Eve with the Apple", motives from the mythology and observations of the reality of his time. At least a part of the fantastic images possessed both, contemporary and local, and individual symbol

Symbol

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...

ic meaning.

Artist turned to landscape painting as well, and created a lyrical image of the motherland in the Latvian art. His favorite season was spring, the rebirth of Nature.
J.Rozentāls made several altar-pieces to order in the churches of Latvia. In his altar-pieces Rozentāls omitted the dynamics, expressiveness, texture and finished composition. He took into consideration the understanding of art of the simple people and adapted himself to it, yet at the same time he tried not to lose the artistic quality.

The artist tried his skills in monumental painting. In the summer of 1910 he worked at the decorative frieze on the facade of the newly-erected building of the Riga Latvian Society. He painted seven symbolic compositions characterizing the main activities of the society.

Painting occupied a central place in the creative activity of Janis Rozentāls, yet his performance in graphic art was significant, too. The scope of his activity was very wide - the design of books and magazines, applied graphic art, posters and drawings.

The characterization of Janis Rozenāls' personality would not be exhaustive without a review of his social activity. During his study years he took part in the life of the Academy of St. Petersburg. Later he devoted much effort to the consolidation of Latvian artists, who were neglected in their native land. He was a member of jury of almost all the biggest Latvian art exhibitions. Rozentāls took part in the organization of the exhibitions of Latvian art outside Latvia.