SILVIJA GROSA JŪGENDSTILA PERIODA PLASTISKAIS UN ...

A separate issue is the role of the 1901 celebration of Rīga’s 700 th
anniversary and its attendant crafts exhibition in the popularisation of Art Nouveau
in Latvia. The traditional view is that this was a turning point in terms of the
arrival of Art Nouveau in Rīga, but the fact is that the meaning of the exhibition
had less to do with Art Nouveau as it did with the self-esteem of the city and its
environs, as well as the need to understand the importance of historical traditions.
In summarising the strategy for learning about Art Nouveau, one finds
quite a wide range of possibilities. There is no question that around 1900, there
was information in Rīga about all of the searching for new styles that was ongoing,
and in this sense the study of Art Nouveau décor was not limited in any way at all.
III.2. Motifs in the décor of Art Nouveau architecture in Rīga and their
origins
When we analyse motifs in the décor of Art Nouveau architecture in Rīga,
we find that there is a problem in defining their sources. That is because there
were not only textbook Art Nouveau motifs such as floral and zoomorphic, as well
as anthropomorphic, hybrid and abstract forms of décor, but also a wide range of
elements of décor which, in iconographic and stylistic terms, went beyond the
typical boundaries of Art Nouveau.
III.2.1. Natural motifs
As soon as Art Nouveau began to appear in the architectural décor of Rīga
at the turn of the 19 th and 20 th centuries, depictions of nature increasingly became
popular. Of course, there was not just the main and specific Art Nouveau approach
which Robert Schmutzler cleverly described as “Biological Romanticism.” There
were also other ways of approaching the natural world. Paul Greenhalg has
described this as “symbolic conventionalisation”, as pantheism, metamorphosis
and evolutionism. If the latter two concepts related to the influence of biology and
the theory of evolution, as revealed in a direct or a symbolically philosophical
context (thus including the “Biological Romanticism” of Schmutzler), then the idea
of symbolic conventionalisation and pantheism in Art Nouveau was limited and,
really, just a certain aspect of the heritage of Historicism. Pantheism, however,
became the main strategy for interior design at the turn of the 19 th and 20 th
centuries in Rīga, particularly insofar as vestibules were concerned. Façades, by
contrast, offered a manifestation of the ideas of conventional Symbolism or of
metamorphosis and evolutionism.
Stylisation of natural motifs was one of the most popular procedures in
designing wallpaper and stencilled décor on walls. When it came to the range of
colour and ornamentation, of importance were publications devoted to this topic.
Since the mid-19 th century, the number of such publications increased very rapidly.
One of the most authoritative publications in Rīga and elsewhere at the turn of the
centuries was “Grammar of Ornament” by Owen Jones. Stencilled ornaments were
also influenced by textile and wallpaper design. Here the authority of William
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