Aija Brasliņa
About Eduards Kalniņš
The contemporaries of Eduards
Kalniņš (1904 -1988) gave his art the stamp of "classic" while he was still
alive. The "Kalniņš legend" is a combination of many notions talented
landscapist, pupil of Vilhelms Purvītis, the first winner of the Latvian Academy
of Art Rome Prize, grand master of marine painting, consistent advocate of the
principles of plein air and tonal painting, long standing teacher at the Academy
of Art, a professional who demanded much of himself and others, influential
figure in art circles, a sovreign, lively and wise personality. The hazy grey
Baltic Sea marine paintings and the celebrated figural works "Raftsmen", "The New Sails" and
"Latvian Fishermen in the Atlantic" have become the centenarians
unmistakable signs of recognition.
The literary portrait of the
artist by Jānis Melbārzdis in his book "Cieši pie vēja"1
(Close to the Wind) brings alive the legend of the old master, just like the
racily related episodes of "individual mythology" the bohemian escapades and
the exciting sporting and travel stories. Despite the large amount of 20th
century publications on the artist, there has yet to be a serious work of
research on the phenomenon of Kalniņšs art and his generations relationship
with the complicated times.
Behind the openly visible
façade of official publicity and the well-known frame of biographical facts, the
artist had his personal "territory" dominated by two passions painting and the
sea. With the former he carried on a constant dialogue throughout his long
creative career circling around the changes in his individual style, setting
himself difficult professional tasks, observing the set rituals of his craft,
enjoying and living the painting process itself as well as the concentration
required for plein air studies or the long hours of loneliness in the studio. In
an interview Kalniņš once concluded: "And what is painting itself? Its probably
a kind of meditation when a person frees himself from all that is superfluous
and remains alone with his thoughts and feelings."2
His other fateful passion, the sea, gradually became the basic subject matter of
the artists work.
Certain character traits have
united at the core of Kalniņšs artistic individuality: the features of a
realist and a romantic, emotional and rational origins, respect for the
traditions of the national school and openness to innovation, the ability and
will to change flexibly in following the demands dictated by his inner self or
by the age. His views on painting honed by long experience and observations of
nature help us to understand his feeling for art and his working methods. The
dream of his youth, to become a virtuoso painter, was, over time, substituted by
a consciously formulated desire to free himself from his acquired dexterity in
the frozen-in-time manner.
In his work Kalniņš progressed
from the intuitive capture of the visible world to self-defined more complicated
professional aims. He strove to achieve absolute spatial illusion in the plane
of the canvas and to depict the visually imperceptible the impression of
silence and the presence of the infinite in the everyday. His most outstanding
successes combine a trained eye and a deft hand an amazingly precise tonal and
sophisticated perception of colour; his perfected brushwork recreates an
observation of nature that can be felt in the mood and he fascinates with his
ability to transform thematic realities into the appearance of a painting.
***
Having encountered the
temptation of the sea and drawing in his boyhood, Kalniņš became more seriously
aware of his calling to become an artist in the studio of Russian artist Yevgeny
Moshkevich in Tomsk. The family had ended up in this Russian town as refugees
during the First World War. In 1922, having returned to Riga and tried his hand
at commercial painting, Kalniņš enrolled in the newly founded Latvian Academy of
Art. Initially he attended the free lectures but at the end of 1924 he became a
student proper.
In November 1925 after a
successful trial period, the budding painter was accepted into professor
Vilhelms Purvītis Landscape Masterclass.3
During his years of studying, Kalniņš was regarded as one of the most promising
and independent landscape artists of his generation. Those reviewing the Academy
students annual exhibitions remarked on his excellent painterly understanding,
his "energy and sensitivity" and his "fresh perception of nature". Dissatisfied
with his progress in the Masterclass, Kalniņš, in his youthful zeal, suddenly
broke off his studies in 1928 and set off for Berlin with a colleague from the
Academy, graphic artist Boriss Štreimanis.4
He earned his keep producing cinema posters and tried to enrol in the Academy of
Art. News of his successful application reached him when he had already returned
to Riga. The paintings he did during the Berlin episode feature the
characteristic architectural motifs of the city ("The Brandenburg Gate", "Bridge in Berlin",
"Monument by the Reichstag").
Remembering his time in the
landscape Masterclass, Kalniņš repeatedly emphasises Purvītis reserve and
laconic remarks that challenged him to clarify his own artistic singularity
among the other students. The young landscapist did not develop into a direct
and typical follower of the master. In the general atmosphere of the studio,
being influenced by Purvītis teaching methods and attitude to art and life,
Kalniņš inherited and took on board the general principles of the masters
school. Just like his mentor, Kalniņš gave decisive importance throughout his
future work to the study of nature and to the purposeful selection of the means
of expression adapted to the motif. The role of the plein air, an analytical
approach to nature, the ably balanced proportions and a propensity for clear
relationships between the large areas of the composition, the synthesis of
material from studies into a general image of nature, a cultivated feeling for
colouring and tone are evidence of his training and individually demonstrate the
presence of the example of Purvītis. Kalniņš, like his teacher, considered the
price of success to be persistent endeavour towards the unattainable ideal of
completeness.
Similar to others of the
younger generation of painters of the time, the style of this independent
Purvītis pupil was refreshed by an enthusiasm for modern Belgian painting. This
was inspired by the 1927 exhibition of Belgian art in Riga when the Latvians
were especially taken by the expressive painterly and tonal approach of the
Belgians.
In the summer of 1930, Kalniņš
together with his co-student Valdis Kalnroze (then Rozenbergs), drove to Belgium
and Holland on a magnificent Harley Davidson motorcycle. Kalniņš saw the
originals of the inspirational Belgian artworks. In Antwerp he met the Latvian
painter Jānis Tīdemanis and the famous Belgian artist Isidor Opsomer. He painted
windmills, docks and the port. The ultimate destination of the trip had been
Paris but on this occasion it was not to be reached.
We see the greatest variety of
subjects and motifs in Kalniņšs early career, during the second half of the
1920s and the first half of the 30s: the banks of the river Daugava, fishermen,
moored ships and large boats ("The Port", 1929; "The Banks of the Daugava",
1930; "Grey Ships", 1934), the old town of Riga ("The Council Square", 1929),
the humble buildings in a small town, views of Latgale and scenes of
agricultural labour these mingled in his canvases of the time with small
fishing ports, fishermens huts and boats ("Seaside with Net Huts", 1934). This
landscapists/town dwellers interest in the sea and the life of fishermen was
opened up by his meeting with Riga Group painter Jānis Liepiņš as well as the
summers spent in Kaugurciems.
Like all the pupils of
Purvītis Masterclass, Kalniņš did much work with oils in plein air. This
improved his understanding of composition, the poignancy of observation and a
freshness in the painting he could call his own with its apparent moisture and
seemingly still wet surface. He was particularly drawn by water, cloudy skies
and rainy overcast days, reflections in the water pools on the river banks and
in the streets, the hazy morning fog at the seaside, humid air and smoke
effects. The popular horizontal formats were dominated by nuances of mood
captured in tonal and colour relationships. They had something of the Nordic
harshness, typical of the Baltic region. The artist avoided "green tones and
motifs of tree foliage and grass"5.
Although he also used more brilliant accents and combinations of different
colours, this period mainly saw variations of neutralised ranges of grey and
earth colours. The grey tones of various shades and gradations that often called
for poetic epithets established Kalniņšs fame as the "master of grey" and his
future success.
Influenced by the new realism
in painting, especially the Belgian example, the artist was keen on treatment
techniques, cultivating a rich and expressive painting style. He would begin
with energetic, rapid, well laden strokes of the brush and palette knife forming
a rough, often loose texture and various rhythms experimented with. Gradually,
as he tuned in with the motif and developed the materiality, the application
became more varied and sensitive. The spatially saturated composition begins to
"breathe" as the tendency to clarity, simplicity and concreteness strengthened.
The robustness of the
painting, the unity in a common tone, the chiaroscuro and the simplification of
forms increased after the trip to Belgium. The Belgian "accent" could also be
seen in Kalniņšs diploma work of 1931 "After the Rain". This was a large format
composition with a subject seen in Antwerp, horses sheltering, which in its day
was acclaimed by art critic Jānis Siliņš: "We sense the vision of a real painter
in the aspiration for an interpretation of massive forms and in the freely
formed treatment."6
Eduards Kalniņšs
participation in exhibition life began in his student days when he regularly
took part in the annual Academy shows of students works.7
On 16 January 1929 the painter was accepted as a candidate member of the Latvian
Artists Association, which had been founded by graduates of the Academy,8
but in autumn his paintings were included in the groups exhibition for the one
and only time. The exhibition had not closed when on 1st October the same year,
the artist joined the Academys teaching association Sadarbs
9
whose doors were also open to the most talented students. In 1931 Kalniņš
represented Latvia in the travelling international exhibition Ostsee im Bilde;
in 1935 he participated in the Exposition universelle et internationale de
Bruxelles but in Latvia his name became known throught the exhibitions
organised by Sadarbs and the Cultural Foundation. From 1934 several
paintings by pupils of the Landscape Masterclass, including those of Kalniņš,
were part of the collections assembled by Purvītis for representative shows of
Latvian art in Europe. From 1929 works by the young author were acquired by the
Riga City Art Museum, now the State Museum of Art.
One of Kalniņšs greatest
achievements between the wars was winning the Art Academys first competition
for the Rome Prize on 10th May 1935. Max Levin, a Latvian citizen
living in Hamburg and general director of the M.J. Emden Söhne Company founded
the Prix de Rome10
in 1935. Not only was Kalniņš its first laureate, he was also the only one to
have managed to use the 3000 lats grant to study in Italy before the outbreak of
World War II. Twenty-three artists participated in the competition announced in
April 1934 but the jury awarded the prize to Kalniņš for his large figural work
"Raftsmen" (1935)11.
In the competition painting with its card-playing raftsmen, the greyish Daugava
and view of the port in the background, the artist has successfully recast his
Belgian impressions in a mature artistic language. Turning towards a genre
composition was no accident because already in the Academy, the artist was not
developing into a pure landscapist. Like a number of other Purvītis students,
he included human figures as staffage in landscapes associated with the life of
the countryside, fishermen or towns. Contemporary criticism hailed "Raftsmen" as
one of the highest peaks in Latvian genre painting between the wars. Immediately
after the competition exhibition, Purvītis acquired the work for the City Art
Museum collection. During the second half of the 1930s it was repeatedly the
centre of attention in shows of Latvian art abroad.
The Rome Prize allowed Kalniņš
to spend a year in Italy, from August 1935 to September 1936. In Rome he rented
a studio in Via Margutta, the Italian artists Montmartre. In his
letter to the Academy of 14th February 1936 he reports: "Until the
end of December I lived in Rome studying the museums and painting the landscape
of the city and its surroundings. When the rainy season came I moved to southern
Italy where I set about painting the sun, thus to a great extent transforming my
palette."12 Kalniņš also visited Venice
and Florence but in 1936 he lived mainly in southern Italy, in Palermo, Naples
and Positano. He also visited Amalfi and Capri about which he wrote: "I studied
these small Mediterranean towns and their peculiar Arab architecture with great
interest."13
The Italian sun, bright light
and contrasting shadows changed his Baltic light based art. Gone was the
somewhat gloomy greyness, the heaviness of the treatment and in came a
"tangibly" clear atmospheric character. The colouring became richer and more
sophisticated. With the full-blown sparkling of lighter and more brilliant
colours and decorative accents, the brush strokes became more supple and the
drawing more impressionistic.
Sunny landscapes with motifs
of the local architecture, ancient buildings ("Rome. The Arch of Constantine",
1937), lazy ox-carts and opulent still-lifes with bottles of wine, lemons and
greenish Mediterranean frutti di mare ("Still-life (Oysters)", "Fruits of
the Sea", both 1936) sparkle in the saturated colourfulness and feeling for the
celebration of life that is Italy. The construction of the still-lifes stands
out with objects from unusual angles and flatness in their spatial expression.
Italy did not see the end of
his subdued and neutralised keys ("Italian Landscape (Palermo)", Messaggero,
both 1936). These and the misty motifs of the Baltic Sea and its shores are
renewed on his return to the homeland while retaining the lightness and
dexterity of the painting technique.
The second most important
achievement that strengthened the artists name in Latvian art between the wars
was the review of his time in Italy his first solo exhibition in the Riga City
Art Museum in February 1939. Giving his general observations on the exhibition,
author and critic Anšlavs Eglītis wrote: "Kalniņš is a master of the impromptu,
who captures his feelings and impressions with a nimble hand," and pointing out
another essential feature, "Kalniņšs talent is quite flexible, he has a great
feeling for the subject matter, which explains the great variety in his work."14
The previously mentioned art critic and historian Jānis Siliņš predicted that
"the confident painting instinct and agility with which Kalniņš is able to get a
feel for new situations both in terms of subject matter and stylistic, makes us
hope that in his future development, the gifted painter will express his talents
with even more clarity and uniformity".15
The press also reflected the
newly popular artists sporting activities mentioning his passion for football,
ice hockey, skiing, tennis, motor sports and fishing.16
To this list must be added his episodic ballet activities and later billiards
and sailing. Outside of sport he was also seriously interested in photography.
The painters circle of friends in the 1920s-30s that often met for Bohemian
pursuits included other well-known personalities Jānis Liepiņš, Niklāvs
Strunke, Kārlis Padegs, Jānis Tīdemanis, Jānis Sudrabkalns, Volfgangs Dārziņš,
Anna Ozoliņa and others.
Initially the only evidence of
the change of political regime in 1940 was in the use of the newspaper
Padomju Latvija (Soviet Latvia) in a dark still-life instead of the earlier
Messaggero or Rīts. During the following years of the Second World
War the colouring tended to darken but the other forms of expression and subject
did not noticeably change.
The contradictory post war
period brought with it violently imposed Socialist Realism. Local art life,
dictated by Moscow, was characterised by the ambiguity of the ideologised
situation in art and culture. Eduards Kalniņš, like many Latvian artists of the
time, accepted the official rules of the game during the Soviet regime and
learned the compromises of a double existence.
At the end of the 1940s and in
the early 50s the artist combined landscapes with genre elements and, like other
Purvītis pupils, continued the figural direction he had begun earlier in
so-called thematic painting, regarded as a priority by the ruling hierarchy. The
work of fishermen, just like the "pure" marine and sports themes turned out to
be topical and encouraged in the new circumstances. They happened to coincide
with Kalniņš personal interests and thus he did not have to make any radical
thematic compromises. Interest in plein air painting complied with an
objectivised view of the reality of nature as promoted by Socialist Realism. The
narrative, naturalistically detailed canon of realism left a more pronounced
stamp on the artists style during the intolerant criticism of formalism under
Stalin at the end of the 40s and early 50s ("The Mangaļi Shipyard", "The New
Shift", both 1949).
Kalniņš gained a place among
the leaders in the post war situation with the figural composition "New Sails"
(1945), which to some extent paved the way for further popularity and an
official career. A metaphorically perceived and interpreted title was the
motivation for declaring the canvas one of paintings so-called cornerstones and
symbols being identified with the optimism of new construction and the beginning
of the Soviet period in Latvian art. In terms of its composition, "New Sails" is
reminiscent of a paraphrase on "The Raftsmen". However, in its formal
expression, the earlier harmonious symphony of colours and the expressiveness of
the texture have been discarded. In their application, the riskily juxtaposed
intensive colours have been evened out. The painting first drew notice at local
and all-Union exhibitions and was included in the USSR exposition at the 28th
Venice Biennale in 1956.
Already by the end of the
1940s, Kalniņšs works were being bought by the State Tretyakov gallery
("Fishermen", 1947; "The Baltic Fleet on Manoeuvres", 1948) and later by other
Soviet art institutions as well. The honours, titles, awards and important
commissions he received in the coming decades confirm the painters leading role
in the art life of the time. He was elected corresponding member of the Art
Academy of the USSR in 1954 and full member in 1970, which gave him special
status. Kalniņš participated in the work of the Latvian Artists Union and the
Artists Union of the USSR. He consistently represented Latvian painting in the
USSR and in Soviet exhibitions abroad at the same time drawing attention to it
with his name.
Latvian art history cannot
boast of ancient marine painting traditions and neither are there many convinced
advocates of the genre. Nevertheless Eduards Kalniņš, whose seascapes are known
outside the confines of the national school, has been nominated as the most
outstanding marine painter of the second half of the 20th century.
Depiction of the sea, which became the main theme in his work after the war
allowed the artist to confirm and use his specific plein air talents. As a
convinced realist he adhered to the maxim that you cannot paint what you dont
know and what you havent studied thoroughly. The painter himself claims that he
wouldnt have turned to marine painting had he not "explored the sea from shore
to ocean"17
ventured onto the high seas in fishing boats,
sailed in the open sea, taken part in races on the yacht "Varavīksne" and
received a captains diploma. Kalniņš came face to face with the ocean and
realised its might in the autumn of 1954 while on a painting trip in the North
Atlantic. Back in the studio he synthesised his experiences in the monumental
painting "Latvian Fishermen in the Atlantic" (1957). The painting brought him
notice and he was awarded a bronze medal at the EXPO 58 exhibition in Brussels.
During the 50s and 60s he
produced ambitious, panoramic landscapes of the sea and ocean with dramatic
walls of waves whipped up by wind and storm. In great detail he would paint
racing yachts at regattas with their sleek and dynamic hulls, sails straining
and masts tilting under the wind ("The 7th Baltic Regatta",
1952,1954; "Stormy Morning in the Atlantic", 1955; "Close to the Wind", 1962).
The monumental compositions are filled only by the sky and the rough or calm
surface of the water with no shore. The relationships between the basic areas
are determined by and change with the position of the horizon. A high level of
illusion and an impressive spaciousness has been achieved in a levelled and
smooth painting. These harshly romantic and majestic seascapes coincide with the
emotional construction of hymnal might, desirable in Soviet times. At the same
time they display a Baroque sense of drama and make us think of stylistic
analogues in classical Dutch and English painting or of the work of the 19th
century Russian marine artist Ivan Aivazovsky.
Alongside the monumental
canvases, there were views of yacht clubs and fishing ports executed with a
"softer" and freer approach. There were many light seascapes with calm waters
and a low horizon, narrow, sandy strips of the seashore and beached fishing
boats. These, just like the seagulls, nets, oars or other fishing tackle have
been placed in the broad expanse with calligraphically agile brush strokes
("Morning", 1956; "Seaside at Dunte", 1959; "The Riga Seaside", 1967). A
different, more intimate emotional mood in the depiction of nature in
classically simple compositions is introduced by the peculiarities of the light
in the morning, evening and at sunset. Painting a sunny day there would be great
clouds of various shapes and changing atmospheric nuances haziness, mist. On
occasion in the 1950s, Kalniņš would also try out variations on his post-war
fruits-of-the-sea still-lifes ("Still-life with Crab", 1950; "Still-life",
1951). Figural works became more and more rare.
More exotic impressions and
the freshness of unforced expression are revealed in the landscapes of countries
he visited. His impressions of these trips (China in 1958, Italy 1964 and
1972, Japan 1977 and India in 1978) were reflected
mainly in the momentary, study type format of the miniature.
The
late period in Kalniņš creative output began in the 1970s with changes in his
interpretation of the artistic objective. He declared his dependence on
previously exploited professional skill and his aim was now to capture more
deeply what he felt and experienced and not just what was directly visible. In
his depiction of nature he consciously searched for some higher expression of
harmony as if there was another dimension beyond the limits of physical space
the embodiment of poetic and philosophical moods. At this time he was also
convinced that: "In my painting the sea is not registration of what has been
seen but touching its essence."18
During the 1970s and 80s Kalniņš continued with his highly regarded motifs of
the Baltic Sea shore in what by now where stable types of composition using
rationally worked out techniques. These were spatial improvisations with large,
homogenous areas of water, sky and land with variations on the lighting and
atmospheric effects. At the same time he would also return to regattas.
Occupying a special place are the grey seascapes with a calm and smooth drift,
and with the suns disc hidden into a soft haze ("By the Sea", 1973; "Silence",
1978). Here, the plan dominates, a smooth treatment where the smaller forms of
objects have been realised only by separate textural strokes. Although mainly a
seemingly limited range of colours has been used, in the overall pale grey tone
we can see various colours of the spectrum where the artist has sensitively
played on the warm and cold mother-of-pearl like relationships to create a
peculiar illusion of depth.
After a long interval since his first solo exhibition, Eduards Kalniņš looked
back on his creative achievement only towards the end of his life with large
retrospective shows in Riga in 1984 and in Moscow in 1985. Before there had been
a show of his work in Tokyo in 1977. This had been organised by the Gekkoso
company, who also published a catalogue in Japanese and gave the show an
exclusive air by exhibiting the works on a background of black velvet.
Since the autumn of 1945, Kalniņš spent over forty years teaching in the
Painting Department of the Academy of Art. Working with the next generation of
artist of the second half of the 20th century he relied on his
understanding of the national school that was rooted in European traditions and
partly on the teaching principles inherited from Purvītis. At various times
these came up against the norms of different methods of academic teaching and
more up to date stylistic tendencies. From the early 1950s to the 80s he had
supervised the diploma work of over 150 students. Kalniņšs authority was
decisive when it came to heading the USSR Academy of Art Creative Painting
Studio in Riga (19801988).
Looking at the old masters creative heritage in an age that is rapidly becoming
distanced from the classical understanding of painting and the traditional
separation of genres, Kalniņš retains his rightful place in "the hall of fame"
of Latvian national art as one of the last great landscapists of the previous
century. He drew his strength for tonal painting in the plein air, in direct
contact with the world of nature and building the bridge between the traditions
of the Purvītis school and the art of the second half of the 20th
century.
