Kārlis Baltgailis (1893. 27. III Cēsi apr. Gatartas parish - 15. II Cēsis 1979) - painter and pedagogue.
Born in a farmer's family (after being sent home, his father was a weigher in the port of Riga).
Studied in the studio of Jānis Rozentāls (1906 - 1907), in the real school of Atis Ķēniņš, where the drawing teacher was Jūlijs Madernieks (1907 - 1911). In 1917, he graduated from the Penza Art School.
1917. joined the 5th Zemgale Latvian Rifle Regiment as a volunteer, was awarded the George Cross for the battles at Mazās Jugla; 1918 - participated in battles in Siberia, returned to Latvia from Vladivostok in 1920 with the Imanta regiment. From 1920 to 1922, he worked as a teacher at the Cēsis vocational school and the women's gymnasium. From 1922 to 1944 he was a drawing and art history teacher at the Jelgava Teachers' Institute, from 1945 to 1956 at Cēsu 2nd Secondary School.
Participated in exhibitions since 1913.
1919 – organized an exhibition of Latvian artists' works in Omsk.
Personal exhibitions - in Jelgava in 1923, 1939, in Riga in 1964, in Cēsis in 1978.
Posthumous exhibitions – in Priekuļi 1979, Jelgava 1980, Cēsis 1983.
Active organizer of artistic life in Latvia since 1925. - at the time when the association of artists, writers and actors "Green Crow" was established, he was the head of the fine arts section until 1940.
Has carried out extensive art propaganda work in Jelgava, Riga and other Latvian cities. After the Second World War, he did similar work in Cēsis, where he organized annual exhibitions of the works of regional artists. Member of the Union of Artists from 1945, expelled in 1950 and restored in 1958.
Throughout his life, he collected and systematized Latvian art history materials. He had intended to create a dictionary of Latvian artists, but the work remained unfinished due to lack of support. The artist received a scholarship from the Culture Fund only in 1924/25. year.
In his works, he dealt mainly with the archery theme ("Fallen soldier", 1927; "Jātnieks", 1927; "Old archers", 1927; "After the battle", 1929; "Death island", 1934; "Tīreļvā", 1934; "Archers at the bonfire" ”, 1936). A large part of the works of the 1920s and 1930s perished in Jelgava, after World War II they were restored based on memory. He also painted portraits, landscapes, domestic genre works - mainly rural themes. Worked mainly in tempera and watercolor painting. Laconic - in color, composition and drawing. Expressive - in rhythms. Emphasized action, movement in the composition. Around the 40s, he also focused on biblical plots.
The material is prepared according to:
"Art and architecture in biographies", vol. 1, - R.: "Encyclopedia of Latvia", 1995, - G. Tidomane, pp. 42-43.