FAMOUS ARTISTIndulis Zarins

Indulis Zarins was a Latvian artist and teacher, one of the best-known representatives of the “Severe Style” in Latvian art. Born in Riga, he graduated from and later taught at the Latvian Academy of Arts. He was awarded the title of People’s Artist of the Latvian SSR.

Zarins worked in the monumental and easel painting genres. His large-scale paintings — such as “Revolutionary Soldiers” and “Folk Song”— are executed in a powerful, almost poster-like manner: bold silhouettes, enlarged forms, a restrained but resonant palette. Yet beneath the monumental exterior of his best works lies a subtle lyrical sensibility.

In his landscapes, he depicted the understated beauty of Latvian nature with profound tenderness. Zarins also created frescoes and mosaics for public buildings and worked in book graphics. His portraits, complex and internally tense, reveal his subjects’ character with minimal but highly artistic means.

Zarins worked as an assistant set designer at the Komi ASSR Drama Theatre and acted at the Puppet Theatre.