Latvian Traditional Handicrafts

Sculpture
Latvian sculpture tends to be devoid of small detail; our classics, Teodors Zaļkalns, Gustavs Šķilters and Kārlis Zemdega, concentrated on monumental, serene figures addressing the viewer through allegory and symbol. In the Soviet period, many a talented sculptor --Aleksandra Briede, Lea Davidova-Medene, Valdis Albergs, Juris Mauriņš, Oļegs Skarainis, Arta Dumpe, Bruno Strautiņš and others – were expected to produce monuments around “socially important and topical themes,” yet first and foremost they concerned themselves with the problems of  technique and artistic expression.

Graphic Arts
Latvian graphic arts developed from book and newspaper design. In 1904, a group of writers and artists founded a publishing house Zalktis that paid much attention to the visual qualities of books that featured drawings and letters in the art nouveau style complemented with graphic ornaments and flowing lines.
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