Last summer, I spent an afternoon on a guided walk through the wealth of Art Nouveau architecture that is one of the treasures of the Latvian capital, which had a huge spurt of growth and prosperity between 1890 and 1910, in the heyday of Art Nouveau variations across Europe.
While I was putting together my report on Riga’s Art Nouveau, I found I had far too many images for one story, even after editing them out by the dozens. I then arbitrarily divided the rest into two groups—the first, mainly focused on the buildings and the history appeared last week.
Here then, is the second part, a gallery of the rich architectural ornaments, mostly in stone or concrete, but some in intricate metalwork. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I have!
Human faces, literal or allegorical, high up the facades of buildings are a common sight…
Occasionally, it’s difficult to tell if a face is intended to be human or not…
Some, of course, are clearly not…
There are dancers or revelers to be seen here and there, but most of the sculptural work is fairly static and formally posed.
One could occasionally be forgiven for wondering whether the expression on faces reflect a less than enthusiastic approach by the models, or by the sculptor… In the third image, pain rather than ennui seems in evidence.
Some of my favorites, both for their grace and colorful setting and for their integration into the fabric of the building, are from a building designed by Mikhail Eisenstein and now being restored. The two images below and the title image are examples.
Aside from humans, animals and gods, a great deal of Riga’s Art Nouveau architectural ornamentation shows patterns from nature, leaves, and curves, especially early on.
On many other buildings, there is ornamentation that takes on less flowing shapes and more geometric patterns that left me thinking the designers were, perhaps, on their way to the later Art Deco.
Below, a few more samples of the rich assortment on offer…
