Exhibitions

One of the largest museums in Kurzeme – Liepāja Museum – will celebrate its 100th anniversary on 30 November. To commemorate the centenary of the Liepāja Museum and to honor its founder and long-time director, Jānis Sudmalis (1887–1984), the Liepāja Museum will present several exhibitions, including the artworks of Jānis Sudmalis.

The Liepāja Museum's centenary exhibition, “Jānis Sudmalis. Painting”, features 45 paintings and sketches by Jānis Sudmalis from the Liepāja Museum's collection of art objects.

Jānis Sudmalis was a master of applied arts, an accomplished teacher, folk art enthusiast, photographer, and painter fascinated by the rich ethnography, archaeology, and history of Kurzeme. Consequently, Jānis Sudmalis considered the need to study and collect Kurzeme folk art and ethnography an essential task in his life.

As a result of this work, on 30 November 1924, the Museum for the Study of the Region was established in Liepāja. The Museum of History and Art (now the Liepāja Museum) was opened in the former 8th Latvian Primary School building on Alejas (now Čakstes) Square. It was created by uniting together four societies under one roof: The Kurzeme Museum Society, the German Liepāja Society for the Study of Antiquities, the Liepāja Society for the Promotion of Latvian Art, and the Teachers' Trade Union. Jānis Sudmalis continued to manage the Liepāja Museum until 1958, changing titles – treasurer, manager, superintendent, and director.

In the exhibition “Jānis Sudmalis. Painting”, we get to know Jānis Sudmalis as a painter. The works on display were created in Liepāja and its surroundings. The artist painted landscapes, still life, and portraits in the traditions of realism and impressionism and later mainly in strict realism.

His works capture idyllic rural landscapes and everyday life in farmhouses and city streets. The industrial pulse of the city is also captured in the port and factories of Liepāja. The paintings and sketches are mainly in oil.

Liepāja resident Roberts Šterns, a student of the Penza Art School, taught Jānis Sudmalis his first drawing and painting skills. The knowledge and interest in color he gained encouraged him to enroll at Janis Rozentāls' art studio in Rīga (1909) and then, after some fierce competition, at the Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design in St Petersburg (1911–1915).

Jānis Sudmalis was born on 28 November 1887 in the family of Jānis and Grieta Sudmaļi in Elkuzeme “Būdas” of Aizpute County. On 21 May 1984, Jānis Sudmalis passed away, leaving an important legacy to future generations in the context of Latvia's cultural and historical heritage.

Entrance fee: adults EUR 1,50, schoolchildren, students and senior citizens EUR 1,00.