J%C4%81zeps Grosvalds

Jazeps Grosvalds was a Latvian painter from Riga. He is now regarded as one of Latvias finest painters and has several works on display in the Latvian National Museum of Art. Although he spent most of his life abroad his style is a combination of European Modernism and Abstract with a distinctly Latvian influence.

Jzeps Grosvalds was born onApril 1891 in Riga as son of well known Latvian lawyer Frdrihs Grosvalds. His family was quite wealthy and their apartment at the center of Riga was a gathering place for many Latvian intellectuals. Jzeps was raised in typical bourgeois traditions and from an early age was educated in foreign languages, piano play and painting. From 1901 until 1909 he studied in Riga city gymnasium. After graduation his parents financed his trip to Germany where he met his older brother Olerts a philology student in Berlin. He also had opportunity to meet art historian Kurt Glaser and see original paintings of van Gogh and Manet from his collection. From 1909 until 1910 Grosvalds was a student of Simon Hollsys school in Munich. In 1911 Grosvalds was drafted into Russian imperial army and spent his one year service in cavalry regiment which was based in Lithuania.

Source: Wikipedia