Rihards Zariņš (also Richards Zarriņš or Richard Sarrinsch in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

; 27 June 1869 – 21 April 1939) was a Latvian graphic artist.

Life

He was born in Kocēni and grew up in

Līgatne Līgatne (; ) is a town in Līgatne Parish, Cēsis Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It is situated on the Gauja, Gauja River. The village of Līgatne was built around the paper mill, still extant, on the River Ligatne (river), Līg ...

and later in Grīva. He pursued his studies in

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, ...

, where he graduated in 1895 from the Stieglitz Central School for Technical Drawing. He then went on to further studies in Berlin,

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 ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he studied

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

, and Paris, where he honed his skills in

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

and

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

s. He returned to Russia where he was employed by the Russian Imperial Printing Office in St. Petersburg for 20 years, acting as technical director. From 1905 he was in charge of designing state papers. In 1919, he returned to newly independent

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 ...

where he was appointed director of the government printing house. He held that position for over 14 years and retired at the beginning of 1934. After a stroke, he lost his ability to speak; however, he continued to draw until the last day of his life.

Œuvre

Zariņš was one of the best-known Latvian graphic artists. His first works appeared in the early 1890s on the pages of the then-popular Latvian-language magazine, ''Austrums'' (The East), when he was still a student at the Stieglitz art school. He dedicated a great amount of time in the study of folk ornamentation, and under his leadership, the state publishers produced a monumental work on Latvian decorative arts. During his career, the artist designed many stamps of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, Belarusian People’s Republic, and Latvia. He is an author of the very first Soviet stamps issued in 1918. Zariņš was a prolific artist who produced many book illustrations, engravings and lithographs. His oeuvre also contains drawings, water-colour painting, and caricatures. Among his works of applied art are the design of the Latvian coat of arms (with his student Vilhelms Krūmiņš) as well as several designs for bank notes issued by the Printing Office, and several coins of the Latvian lats.LATVIAN MONEY in: LATVIAN CULTURAL CANON
, retrieved 28 February 2015.

Gallery

File:1916 Zariņš Tēvuzemei Grūti Laiki.jpg, World War I propaganda postcard by Zariņš File:250 Ruble Note 1917 verso.jpg, The 250-ruble banknote issued by the Russian provisional government in 1917 was designed by ZariņšMartuzāns, B.:

', 1999–2002. URL last accessed 5 January 2007. File:Russia 1918 CPA 1 - 2 stamps (October Revolution).jpg, First stamps of

, 1918 File:Latvia SC60 Laid Paper.jpg, Stamp of

conmemorating the 1st anniversary of Latvian independence, 1919 File:StampLatvia1919-12-16.jpg, Stamp of Latvia, 1919 File:Rihards Zariņš - Poet’s tomb - Google Art Project.jpg, Poet's tomb (1913)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zarins, Rihards 1869 births 1939 deaths People from Valmiera Municipality People from Valmiera county 20th-century Latvian artists Latvian illustrators Latvian graphic designers Currency designers Stamp designers Artists from the Russian Empire