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 on 10 March 1864 in ''Vecalkšņi'' homestead, Mazsalaca parish (now

Valmiera Municipality Valmiera Municipality () is one of the 35 Municipalities of Latvia, 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 i ...

Kreis Wolmar Valmiera county (, , ) was a historic county of Latvia. Its capital was Valmiera (''Wolmar''). History The county of Valmiera was created during the administrative territorial reform of the Governorate of Riga in 1783 by merging of parishes fr ...

Livonian Governorate The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, Baltic Governorate-General until 1876. Governorate of Livonia bordered Governorate of ...

however he was raised in

Rūjiena Rūjiena (; ; ) is a town in Valmiera Municipality, in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. As of 2017 its population was 3,007. Geography The town is located in northern Latvia, near the border with Estonia, in the historical region of Vidzeme (ancientl ...

where his father opened a book store. He graduated from a local municipal school and traveled to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

to study art. He studied

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

in technical school of Riga German craftsmen society and later traveled to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. There he started studies in Russian Imperial academy of art in 1883. He studied under

Bogdan Willewalde Gottfried Willewalde, russified as Bogdan Pavlovich Willewalde (; 12 January 1819, Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg – 24 March 1903, Dresden) was a Russian Imperial artist, academic, emeritus professor of military art, and a fellow of the Imperial ...

and specialised in

military art Military art is art with a military subject matter, regardless of its style or medium. The battle scene is one of the oldest types of art in developed civilizations, as rulers have always been keen to celebrate their victories and intimidate ...

. 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 The Latvian National Museum of Art () is an art museum in Riga, Latvia. It contains the largest collection of national art in Latvia. The museum houses more than 65,000 works of art reflecting the development of professional art in the Baltic a ...

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 Valmiera Municipality People from Valmiera county 19th-century Latvian painters Latvian male painters Painters from the Russian Empire {{Latvia-painter-stub