SILVIJA GROSA JŪGENDSTILA PERIODA PLASTISKAIS UN ...

still life paintings showing wild game, exotic fruits, flowers, etc. This represented
the typical 19 th century view of “small Dutch paintings.” Such paintings, which
were subordinate to the laws of symmetry in the overall composition of the
relevant room, were part of ornamental stencilled frames which were bronzed to
supplement the colours. The paintings offered direct indications of Neo-Rococo
themes (paintings on the ceilings of three rooms in one of the flats at Basteja
Boulevard 16, for instance). A good example is the residential building which was
built for the factory owner Julius Hübner at Dzirnavu Street 58 (architect Wilhelm
Neumann, 1901). The interiors included both traditional decorative techniques (the
stairwell ceiling had a Neo-Rococo painting and ornate décor), but also motifs of
nature that were typical of the early period of Art Nouveau. There were also
stylised ornaments representing historical styles (stencilled ornaments, stained
glass windows, some of the fireplaces).
VI.4. The influence of academic and salon art
The arrival of academic and salon art rooted in classical tradition in the
interiors of the relevant period in time may be evidenced by a series of decorative
paintings produced by Janis Rozentāls – paintings which are known only on the
basis of photographs and which have not been discussed very much in the texts that
have been devoted to the great artist. There were figural compositions in the
lunette format which Rozentāls produced shortly after he completed his studies –
sometime around 1898. It is likely that this was a private commission. We are
aware of a small number of decorative paintings of a similar style, and this makes
the Rozentāls cycle valuable in producing a more visible understanding of
decorative painting in interior design during this period in time. The history of
Rozentāls’ early career can also be updated. The photographs, of course, are all in
black-and-white, which makes it impossible to evaluate their quality apart from
their iconography and their composition. Apparently the young artist based his
work on popular representatives of academic painting in the 19 th century,
particularly Frederick Leighton.
The popularity of academic salon art was also seen in the stairwell of a
two-story wood building at Dzirnavu Street 56 (architect Alfred Aschenkampf,
1900, building torn down in the late 1970s). The stairwell was meant as an
imitation of the so-called Pompeii IV style of painting. There were paintings on
the walls by an anonymous author, and three were copies of work by the British
artist John William Godward – “Yes or No?”, 1893, Hessian Museum, Darmstadt;
“The Old, Old Story”, 1903, privately held; and “In the Days of Sappho”, 1904,
Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. It is assumed that there was similar design in
another building which Aschenkampf designed in 1896. – the one at Mārupes
Street 1. The paintings in the building were destroyed in the early 1970s. All of
this confirms the dissemination of such artworks in interiors in Rīga during the
period of time that is considered here.
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