Rūdolfs Pērle (1875, present-day Bilska Parish – 1917,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

) was a Latvian painter. For a large part of his life, he specialised in producing

still life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

s, but widened his artistic range following his experiences during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and is today recognised as an important Latvian

Symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

Biography

Rūdolfs Pērle was born in northern Latvia and originally studied to become a

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...

. While studying, his talent for drawing still lifes of flowers was discovered and he was encouraged to pursue art studies at the

Saint Petersburg Art and Industry Academy The Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design (; abbreviated as СПГХПА) is the oldest school of design in Russia. It occupies a parcel of land immediately to the east of the Summer Garden in Saint Petersburg. History ...

. In 1899 he enrolled in the class of textile design and still life painting, led by his countryman . At the academy, he became friends with other Latvian art students, including Burkards Dzenis,

Gustavs Šķilters Gustavs Šķilters (15 November 1874 – 24 September 1954) was a Latvian artist, working mainly as a sculptor. Biography Gustavs Šķilters was born in present-day Rencēni Parish, the son of a blacksmith, and trained to become an artist in S ...

, Pēteris Krastiņš and Aleksandrs Romans, and he joined the association of young Latvian artists known as '' Rūķis''. When he had finished his studies, he stayed in Saint Petersburg, having a daytime job in a factory and pursuing his artistic interests in his free time. While not widely recognised in the erstwhile capital of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, his works were exhibited in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, the present-day capital of his native Latvia. At the outbreak of World War I, Rūdolfs Pērle was sent as an expert on military

observation balloon An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for gathering intelligence and spotting artillery. The use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World ...

s by his employer, who manufactured them, to the front in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. Encountering the wild and mountainous landscape and the destruction brought by the war provided strong inspiration for Pērle, who in the last years of his life thus came to adopt new and darker themes and modes of expression. He died on 17 June 1917 in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

due to complications after surgery of

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

Art

Rūdolfs Pērle was a painter who used a variety of techniques, from

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. ...

drawings; he picked up

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

only as late as 1916. Until then, his oeuvre mostly consisted of still lifes of flowers, but following his impressions during the war, he began an intense production of oneiric, expressive landscapes, characterised by an atmosphere of desolation. He has been compared to his contemporary Lithuanian artist colleague

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (; – ) was a Lithuanian composer, painter, choirmaster, cultural figure, and writer in Polish. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and Art Nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. ...

and described as an important representative of Symbolism within Latvian art. In recent years, a double exhibition featuring the works of Pērle and Čiurlionis was on display in Riga (2014) and works by Rūdolfs Pērle also featured in the exhibition ''Âmes sauvages. Le symbolisme dans les pays baltes'' held at the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

in Paris in 2018.

Gallery

File:Rūdolfs Pērle - Brīnumu pils (1915).jpg, ''Brīnumu pils (Imaginary castle)'' (1915) File:Rūdolfs Pērle - Saule (1916).jpg, ''Saule (Sun)'' (1916) File:Rūdolfs Pērle - Saulīt vēlu vakarā (1916).jpg, ''Saulīt vēlu vakarā (The sun at dusk - motif from a folk song)'' (1916)

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perle, Rudolfs 1875 births 1917 deaths People from Smiltene Municipality People from Valka county 20th-century Latvian painters 20th-century Latvian male artists Latvian male painters Russian military personnel of World War I Deaths from appendicitis Painters from the Russian Empire