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 The Shining of a Distant Star Māris Brancis, Art Historian Marita Bērziņa. Kārlis Brencēns (Rīga: Neputns, 2008) | |
| A study on the Latvian artist Kārlis Brencēns, by Marita Bērziņa, Curator of the Graphics Collection, Latvian National Museum of Art, came out late 2008 (publishing house Neputns, 229 pages). I have to agree with the statement by the art historian Marita Bērziņa, that: "On the Latvian art scene Brencēns takes an outwardly unobtrusive, yet permanent place." (page 147). This artist cannot be placed among the group of the very brightest stars in the constellation of Latvian art, but it is impossible to not to mention him when talking about stained-glass art, theoretic reflection and even more so about painting methods, as well as painting and drawing in the history of Latvian art of the 20th century. Therefore I believe that the publication of this monograph is a very important event, offering us yet another opportunity to realize how little we know about the creative life, personality and life stories of our established artists. Firstly, I wish to highlight - again - the excellent quality of the publications from the publishing house Neputns: the care that has been taken in preparation, along with an abundance of visual material, covering both the time period and the diversity of the artist's work, which contributes to an understanding of the ideas expressed by the respective art historian and also presents the reader with the opportunity to make their own conclusions independently from the author of the book. Secondly, praise is due for the work of the artist Zane Ernštreite, who once again (let us recall the catalogue for the exhibition "From de facto to de iure - The Birth of Latvia. Art and the Age", also prepared and printed in 2008) shows how simple but effective an almost minimalist cover design can be, its colour, classic title and some small detail giving a hint about the contents. | |
 Marita Bērziņa. Kārlis Brencēns: Rīga, Neputns, 2008., p. 229, il. | |
| As Bērziņa's introduction reveals, she was inspired to write the book whilst preparing a catalogue for an exhibition marking the 125th anniversary of Kārlis Brencēns. The catalogue was not published, but it was replaced by this significant monograph, which the author claims as her "first attempt" at writing (page 7), even though it is not claimed to be of such genre. It's not just a hopeful beginning. Observing how much material has been examined and studied, it cannot be considered merely an attempt. Great thoroughness is evident in the research. It seems that not a single piece of information available in Latvia on this subject was left unnoticed by Bērziņa. All museums, archives and libraries, as well as private collections were searched, and valuable pieces of information were discovered together with other, perhaps less significant, but still important details. This has enabled the author to study the life and work of Brencēns in great detail, paying careful attention to the various stages of his life, starting with childhood and his school years in Madliena until the end of his life in Riga. Factual information forms the basis of Berziņa's study. She does not permit herself to stray from the facts, allowing her imagination to carry her away to enrich the story and to bring the human side of the artist closer to the reader. Meticulous presentation of facts encourages the use of academic, dry language and to a large extent limits the interpretation of an event or a phenomenon. Where facts were not available to the author, very little or nothing at all is said. For this reason the author studies in great detail the technical aspects of paintings and water colours, which is a rarity in contemporary literature on art, but an evaluation of the works is left to various other authors who may have at some time written about Brencēns' work. As a result Brencēns' creative activity is not placed in the context of Latvian art as a whole, unless done so subtly as to be scarcely noticeable. The main accent in the book is on painting and drawing, as there were more original works and information available in these fields. Stained-glass art is not examined to the same extent: firstly, because for obvious reasons Bērziņa did not have the opportunity to study those of Brencēns' stained glass works which can be found in Russia, and secondly, because the artist did not work much with stained glass in Latvia, as there was little demand. Thus a stylistic study of the artist's stained glass works is not given. A study of the stylistic elements of Brencēns' paintings is also passed over somewhat lightly, occasionally expressing contradictory views. For instance, the author claims that she noticed "elements of planes characteristic of cubism" (page 74) in the portraits done by Brencēns between 1910 and 1920. However, it is not mentioned where these elements had been seen. A statement that the master's drawings reflect "a fusion of surprising modernism and traditionalism" (page 110) does not convince. Bērziņa avers that Brencēns' portraits from the 20's and 30's of the last century present "good examples of "the new objectivity" (page 118). This art trend is very difficult to define, its specification so blurred, that I tend to agree with Dace Lamberga's assertion that this new objectivity can be easily confused with a deeper interest in Old Masters1. According to Bērziņa, the artist actively studied the works of Old Masters in various museums in Europe. With viewers' opinions about Brencēns' artwork being so often quoted, one wishes that the author would occasionally elaborate on the thoughts expressed in the quotes, which at times are ambiguous or not completely comprehensible. For example, Jānis Siliņš' reproach that Brencēns' conviction on the use of the techniques of the Old Masters in painting is doctrinaire. But does the author agree with this assertion? Brencēns was a pedagogue for the whole of his life. Bērziņa does not expand on this aspect of his activities, although the book does contain one chapter about his work as a teacher, mostly the opinions of Jānis Brekte and other artists. Nevertheless, we do not get to read about the artist's teaching methods and their development, although some conclusions could have been expected, since the author claims that "as a teacher, Brencēns used his experience of French pedagogic methodology" (page 147) at the end of the book. However, we never find out what the French manner of teaching was, and how it may have been different to what Brencēns may have experienced as a student at the Baron Stiglitz Central School of Technical Drawing. The recollections by Taira Halapina and Jurģis Skulme, students of Brencēns, make very interesting reading. Written specially for this book, they are lively and exciting, and what is essential is that we find out more about Brencēns as a person - something about which Bērziņa is silent. Notwithstanding the remarks and issues mentioned above, this is a splendid achievement by Marita Bērziņa. So far information on the creative activities and personal life of the artist Kārlis Brencēns has been fragmentary, mostly based on just a few facts. Even though the author does not overturn any opinions of her predecessors, we now have an honest, carefully researched study, an academic paper, to which other researchers in the future will be able to add only minor details. 1 Classical Modernism. Early 20th Century Latvian Painting /Translator into English: Laura Zandersone/ | |
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