Ādams Alksnis (10 March 1864 – 21 March 1897) was a Latvian painter. He is one of the first painters who started to paint daily scenes from Latvian peasant life.
Biography
Alksnis was born in 10 March, 1864 in ''Vecalkšņi'' homestead,
Mazsalaca parish (now
Valmiera Municipality
Valmiera Municipality ( lv, Valmieras novads) is one of the 35 municipalities established in Latvia in 2021, located approximately west of the national capital Riga. Its first elected municipal council took office on 1 July 2021. Its seat is th ...
),
Kreis Wolmar,
Livonian Governorate however he was raised in
Rūjiena where his father opened a book store. He graduated from a local municipal school and traveled to
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
to study art. He studied
drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...
in technical school of Riga German craftsmen society and later traveled to
St. Petersburg. There he started studies in
Russian Imperial acedemy of art in 1883. He studied under
Bogdan Willewalde and specialised in
military art.
In this period he was known as an informal leader and consolidator of Latvian artists in St. Petersburg. He actively participated in the local Latvian artist society ''Rūķis'' (Dwarf).
In 1892 he graduated and returned to Latvia. He lived mostly in his native Rūjiena. In 1897 he underwent a minor nose surgery in Riga but died quite suddenly from
blood-poisoning on March 21. He was buried in Rūjiena town cemetery.
Biggest part of his artistic legacy consists of drawings and watercolours. There are known only 15 oil paintings. Many of his works are displayed in the
Latvian National Museum of Art.
Latvian National Art Museum
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Gallery
АлкснисА..jpg, Three birch trees (1890s)
АлкснисА. Врач.jpg, Portrait of a military doctor. (First half of 1890s)
References
External links
Rujiena biography
(Latvian)
1864 births
1897 deaths
People from Mazsalaca Municipality
People from Kreis Wolmar
19th-century Latvian painters
{{Latvia-painter-stub