Jānis Strupulis (

monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

''JS'', born 28 January 1949) is a Latvian sculptor and graphical designer, who designed some of the modern Latvian coins with denominations in

Latvian lats The Latvian lats (plural: ''lati'', plural genitive: ''latu'', second Latvian lats ISO 4217 currency code: LVL) was the currency of Latvia from 1922 until 1940 and from 1993 until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. A two-week trans ...

Life

Strupulis was born 28 January 1949 in

Vecpiebalga Vecpiebalga () is a village in Vecpiebalga Parish, Cēsis Municipality, in the Vidzeme region of Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic stat ...

. He graduated 1973 from the

Art Academy of Latvia The Art Academy of Latvia () 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 the National Museum of Art. In aut ...

, Department of Sculpturing, and is a member of the Artists' Union of Latvia () since 1978, and a member of the Latvian Designers' Society () since 1994. He is also member of FIDEM, president of the Latvian Arts Medal Club () and honorary member of the

Latvian Academy of Sciences The Latvian Academy of Sciences (, ) is the official science academy of Latvia and is an association of the country's foremost scientists. The academy was founded as the ''Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences'' (). It is located in Riga. The curren ...

Works

Strupulis has, in cooperation with

Gunārs Lūsis Gunārs Lūsis (born 1950) is a Latvian artist and graphical designer. Lūsis is notable for creating the design for some of the modern Latvian coins with denominations in Latvian lats, and for authoring the logo for the Latvian presidency of t ...

, designed a number of Latvian coins with denominations in Lats dated 1992, the bi-metallic 2 Lats coin dated 1999, variations of the 1 Lats coins dated 1999, 2001, and many others. Strupulis has been actively exhibiting his works since 1971. His main works are in the fields of medals, coins, pictures and drawings, and they have been displayed in more than a dozen countries, at more than 50 museums. He has created

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

s in

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 ...

for a number of notable persons, like:

Ernst von Bergmann Ernst Gustav Benjamin von Bergmann (16 December 1836 – 25 March 1907) was a Baltic German surgeon. He was the first physician to introduce heat sterilisation of surgical instruments and is known as a pioneer of aseptic surgery. Early life ...

(2011),

Johann Christoph Brotze Johann Christoph Brotze (; 1 September 1742 – 4 August 1823) was a Renaissance humanism era German pedagogue, artist and ethnographer. Biography Brotze was born in Görlitz, Electorate of Saxony, into the family of a salt weigher. As a child, ...

(1996), as well as

Ernests Brastiņš Ernests Brastiņš (19 March 1892 – 28 January 1942) was a Latvian artist, amateur historian, folklorist and archaeologist. He is known as the founder and driving force behind the neopagan religion Dievturība, which he started in the 1920s ...

(2007, painter, 1892–1942), Herberts Tīmers (2006, architect, 1897–1938), Christoph Haberland (1994) and Aleksandrs Tīpainis (2006, postal official (1886–1974).

Prizes and awards

* 1986, 1989 Baltic Triennial Medal Art Prize * 1997 Pauls Stradiņš Prize * 1992, 1996 Dante Biennale Gold Medal * 1995 Baltic Triennial Medal Art Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strupulis, Janis 1949 births Living people People from Cēsis Municipality Latvian sculptors Latvian artists 20th-century Latvian artists Art Academy of Latvia alumni