Johann Walter-Kurau, also known as Jānis Valters (Latvian) or Johann Walter, (3 February 1869 – 19 December 1932) was a

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

n painter.

Life

Walter was born in

Jelgava Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Duch ...

, south of

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 ...

, and had German citizenship through his

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

mother. He studied art at the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

with

Janis Rozentāls Janis Rozentāls (March 18, 1866 – December 26, 1916) was a famous Latvian painter. Life Rozentāls was born in Bebri Farmstead, Saldus parish, Courland Governorate in the Russian Empire. He was the son of a blacksmith. He received the ...

and

Vilhelms Purvītis Vilhelms Purvītis (3 March 1872 – 14 January 1945) was a landscape painter and educator who founded the Latvian Academy of Art and was its rector from 1919 to 1934. Biography Vilhems Purvītis was born in Zaube Parish (now Cēsis Munic ...

, and built up an oeuvre that ranged from the academic realism of the 1890s, through a style inspired by

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

and

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

, to the verge of

abstraction Abstraction in its main sense is a conceptual process wherein general rules and concepts are derived from the usage and classification of specific examples, literal ("real" or "concrete") signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstr ...

with a peculiar non-objective vision of nature late in his career. At the turn of the 20th century Walter stood out as one of the most important emerging artists in Latvia, but left in 1906 to work in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, where he changed his last name to Walter-Kurau. He lived in Dresden for 10 years before moving to Berlin in 1916 or 1917. More than 120 of his works are in the collection of

Latvian National Museum of Art The Latvian National Museum of Art ( lv, Latvijas Nacionālais mākslas muzejs) is the richest collection of national art in Latvia. It houses more than 52,000 works of art reflecting the development of professional art in the Baltic area and in ...

in Riga, including his most famous work from the pre-Germany era, ''

Bathing Boys ''Bathing Boys'' ( lv, Peldētāji zēni) is a painting by the artist Jānis Valters (later Johann Walter-Kurau) from 1900. Description The painting is oil on canvas, with dimensions . The painting belongs to the Latvian National Museum of Art ...

'' (1900). He is included in Latvian cultural canon. He died in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1932.

Gallery

Valters pasportrets.jpg, Self portrait (1924) Johans Valters - Boys Bathing - Google Art Project.jpg, Boys bathing (1900) Johans Valters - Forest (Morning Sun) - Google Art Project.jpg, Forest (Morning sun) 1904 Tirgus Jelgavaa.jpg, Market in Jelgava (1897) Johans Valters - Ducks - Google Art Project.jpg, Ducks (1898) Johann Walter-Kurau Landschaft mit Birken.jpg, Landscape with birch trees (circa 1912)

References

External links

Sothebys

Walter-Kurau in Leicesters Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter-Kurau, Johann 1869 births 1932 deaths People from Jelgava People from Courland Governorate Baltic-German people Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany 19th-century Latvian painters 20th-century Latvian painters