Jazeps Grosvalds (
Latvian: Jāzeps Grosvalds) (24 April 1891 – 1 February 1920) was a
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
n
painter
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
from
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 ...
. He is now regarded as one of Latvia's finest painters, bringing new ideas in Latvian art at the time, and has several works on display 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 ...
. Although he spent most of his life abroad his style is a combination of European Modernism and Abstract with a distinctly Latvian influence.
Biography
Jāzeps Grosvalds was born on 24 April 1891 in Riga as son of well known Latvian
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters.
The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
Frīdrihs Grosvalds. His family was quite wealthy and their apartment at the center of Riga was a gathering place for many Latvian intellectuals. Jāzeps was raised in typical
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...
traditions and from an early age was educated in foreign languages, piano play and painting.
From 1901 until 1909 he studied in Riga city
gymnasium. After graduation his parents financed his trip to
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
where he met his older brother Olģerts a
philology
Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
student in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. He also had opportunity to meet art historian
Kurt Glaser and see original paintings of
van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...
and
Manet from his collection. From 1909 until 1910 Grosvalds was a student of
Simon Hollósy
Simon Hollósy (2 February 1857 – 8 May 1918) was a Hungarian painter. He was considered one of the greatest Hungarian representatives of 19th-century Naturalism and Realism.
Hollósy was not highly productive as an artist and was more im ...
's school in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
.
In 1911 Grosvalds was drafted into
Russian imperial army
The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
and spent his one-year service in
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
regiment which was based in
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
.
Critical of the opportunities presented by the Munich art establishment, Grosvalds went to Paris in 1910, where he studied at several private academies (for example ''
La Palette''). He also has studied under
K. van Dongen In addition to this, he immersed himself in the flourishing art scene of the time, inspirited by Parisian artistic and intellectual environment, studying both modern art (
Cézanne,
Degas
Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French people, French Impressionism, Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings.
Degas also produced bronze sculptures, Print ...
,
Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that ...
) as well as the old masters.
In summer of 1914, just before a war was breaking out over Europe, Grosvalds returned to Riga with several other Latvian painters
Konrāds Ubāns
Konrāds Ubāns (December 31, 1893 – August 30, 1981) was a Latvian painter from Riga. 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 Latvi ...
,
Voldemars Tone and
Aleksandrs Drēviņš
Aleksandr Davydovich Drevin (, , 3 July 1889 – 26 February 1938) was a Latvian-Russian painter.
Biography
Drevin was born in Cēsis, Latvia, then a part of Russian Empire. He attended art school in Riga under Vilhelms Purvītis, th ...
. They were determined to create something new - an exciting, challenging and emphatically Latvian art movement. They set up the artists' circle ''Zaļā puķe'' (
Green Flower), which transformed over time firstly into the
Expressionist
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 ...
s' Group and then the Riga Artists Group.
In August 1914 he together with his brother Olģerts traveled through
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
.
In 1915 Grosvalds was mobilized in Russian army as a cavalry officer and joined the 6th Tukums
Latvian Rifleman
The Latvian Riflemen (; ) were originally a military formation of the Imperial Russian Army assembled starting 1915 in Latvia in order to defend Baltic governorates against the German Empire in World War I. Initially, the battalions were formed ...
regiment. He commanded
scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
** Scouts BSA, sect ...
unit and actively painted scenes from daily life of soldiers and refugees (cf. ''The Refugees'', 1915–1917 series, and ''
Latvian Riflemen
The Latvian Riflemen (; ) were originally a military formation of the Imperial Russian Army assembled starting 1915 in Latvia in order to defend Baltic governorates against the German Empire in World War I. Initially, the battalions were forme ...
'', 1916–1917 series).
In 1917 he was commanded to the
western front where he soon joined the
British army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
.
In 1918 Grosvalds as a British
First lieutenant
First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment.
The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...
joined the British Expeditionary Group and traveled through Arabia,
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
. His experiences were documented in more than hundred pictures with Persian landscapes (''Oriental'' series, 1918–1919). For his service he was awarded with the British
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...
.
In summer 1919 Grosvalds was demobilised and replaced his brother Olģerts as a secretary of Latvian delegation in
Paris peace conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include:
Listed by name
Paris Accords
may refer to:
* Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...
. In December he started to work in Embassy of Latvia in Paris.
He died from
Spanish flu
The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...
on 1 February 1920 in Paris. His cremated remains were stored in
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world.
Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...
columbarium until 1925 when they were buried in Riga
Great cemetery.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosvalds, Jazeps
1891 births
1920 deaths
Artists from Riga
People from Riga county
Latvian painters
Latvian male painters
Post-impressionist painters
Latvian Riflemen
Imperial Russian Army officers
Russian military personnel of World War I
British Army personnel of World War I
Recipients of the Military Cross
Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic
Latvian emigrants to France