Konrāds Ubāns (December 31, 1893 – August 30, 1981) 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 ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

from

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 ...

. He studied at the Riga Art School and was one of the founding members of the Riga Artists' Group before becoming a professor at the

Art Academy of Latvia The Art Academy of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Mākslas akadēmija) is an institution of higher education and scientific research in art, located in Riga, Latvia. The neo-Gothic brick building is located on Krišjānis Valdemārs Street, next to t ...

Biography

Konrāds Ubāns was born on December 31, 1893, in Riga. His father was a railway worker. From 1902 until 1910, he studied in a commercial school. Later he studied in the

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

art school for a half year. In 1911, he started studies in Riga Art school where he studied until 1914, when

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

started. Ubāns together with his family went to Russia, where for a short while he studied in

Penza Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-l ...

Art School. In 1916, he was drafted into the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

and served until 1918, when he was demobilized and returned to Latvia. Ubāns was part of the "

Green Flower Green Flower ( Latvian: ''Zaļā puķe'') was an association of young Latvian avant-garde artists which lasted from 1914 to 1919. The group was centred around Jāzeps Grosvalds, who had visited Munich and Paris whilst travelling around Europe sinc ...

" association of avant-garde artists, notably with Aleksandrs Drēviņš ( lv), Valdemārs Tone ( lv) and

Kārlis Johansons Karl Johansson (January 16, 1890 in Cēsis, Latvia, as Kārlis Johansons in his native Latvian; Russian: Карл Вольдемарович Иогансон, ''Karl Voldemarovich Ioganson;'' German: ''Karl Ioganson'' – October 18, 1929 in Mos ...

( lv). In 1920, his first solo exhibition was held in Riga. In the same year, he started his work in

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 ...

as an assistant of museum director Burkarts Dzenis. In 1922, he took a study trip to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The next year, his second solo exhibition was held. In 1925, he was addressed by

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 took a job in

as a teacher of painting. In 1946, he was promoted to

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

and worked in this post for the rest of his life. In 1959, he was declared as People's Artist of Latvian SSR. In 1980, his last exhibition was held in Riga. Konrāds Ubāns died on August 30, 1981, in Riga. He is buried in the Forest Cemetery.

Art

Konrāds Ubāns is noted mostly for his

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compos ...

s and the poetic and intimate atmosphere within them. They are rich, harmonious works celebrating the wonder of nature. He mostly painted landscapes of Riga outskirts in

Pārdaugava Pārdaugava (literally means "Trans" or "Over" -Daugava area) is an area most often associated with Riga, composed of several neighbourhoods on the west (left) bank of Daugava River. The name is literally translated as 'over Daugava'. In the la ...

and

Daugava , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Se ...

river valley especially around

Koknese Koknese () is a town in Aizkraukle Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava River. It has a population of nearly 3,000. According to the provisions of the 2021 Latvian administrative reform, Koknese gained ...

. However, he also has painted many

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

s and

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

s. Also, he has worked in

graphic art A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface.

and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. Real maturity in his work can be seen as early as his paintings from the 1920s, when he richly uses motifs and atmosphere of

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 ...

References

1893 births 1981 deaths Artists from Riga People from Kreis Riga 20th-century Latvian painters People's Artists of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (visual arts) Recipients of the Order of the Three Stars Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Burials at Forest Cemetery, Riga {{Latvia-painter-stub