Personalities of Painters Vilhelms Purvītis and Imants Lancmanis in the Latvian Art Field in the 20th and 21st Centuries
Personalities of Painters Vilhelms Purvītis and Imants Lancmanis in the Latvian Art Field in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Summary/Abstract: The Latvian National Museum of Art’s 2022 exhibitions “Purvītis” and “The Art of Imants Lancmanis”, one dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Vilhelms Purvītis and the other a retrospective exhibition of works by Imants Lancmanis, are united by their ambition. It is a testimony to its time and to the personality of the artist. The main aim of this article is to use the sociology of art to portray the influence of two artists, painters and leaders of national art institutions, on the formation of national art perception in society. Two personalities, each working in their own time, but both with strong social capital and habitus – the ability to use it to shape the rules of the Latvian art field and construct national identity.

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