Conversation with Juris Jurjāns

"Artist Juris Jurjāns is a serious and noteworthy figure in Latvian painting. Over the years he has evolved as a 'maitre' of our painting. For many years he maintained a good balance with the Latvian Artists Union representational issues and exhibition politics. He has the gift of apt judgement, he is demanding of himself in his own art, always youthful in his quests and findings. Juris Jurjāns has not been discussed and recognized as much as he deserves. This book reveals his unusual personality. His work here is shown in a different light, and Jurjāns showed himself to me as if on a new page. I have always thought of him as someone on whom you can rely completely, but I hadn't contemplated the frailty and beauty of his art. I also thought a great deal about values, because criteria change. This book was an experience and gave me much inner joy. The reader needs to delve into the book. It requires immersion, because it has been created in a style trueto Jurjāns. Abrupt, incomplete sentences - like sketches created with artistic brushwork, but in words. Significant pauses. Something left hanging in the air - find it! Learn to find it! A beautiful work with answers of Juris' secrets." (Džemma Skulme) Paintings by Juris Jurjāns, cover - a detail of the painting "Salome and God's Eye", book design by Anna Aizsilniece.