Artwork

Madernieks Julijs

Art Deco furniture set

Cabinet

Julijs Madernieks Born on February 27, 1870 in Madona district (Latvia), died on July 19, 1955 in Riga. Master of decorative applied arts, teacher, and art theoretician.

Studies at the School of German Craftsmen's Society in Riga (1891-1892) and Stiglitz's Central School for Technical Drawing (1898): an active member of the Rukis artists' association; further art studies in Paris (1899-1900).
Managed a private art studio in Riga (1904-1914).
One of the founders of Latvian professional applied arts. A major contributor to the development of ornamental design. His compositions were published in two volumes under the title "Ornaments" (1913) and "Patterns" (1930). His early works show Art-Nouveau influences, later on he developed his own style of geometrical ornamentation. He designed interiors, furniture sets, tapestries, carpets, and decorative sculpture. He worked in applied graphics, press design, book illustration, and landscape painting in oil and water-colors.

References:

Art and Architecture. Biographies, II. Riga, 1996; I. Novadniece. Julijs Madernieks. Riga, 1982; J. Silins. Latvian Art in 1800 - 1914, II. Stockholm, 1980; Latvian Fine Arts in 1860 - 1940. Riga, 1986.