Htqe.2024.37

https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2024.37 | 492-503 | PDF

Works of Latvian Medallists in Fidem Congress Exhibition in Florence

Juris Nikiforovs
University of Latvia, Latvia

Abstract
Medal is a miniature to be held. As an art form medal has evolved from being decorative to purely modernistic in a sense of creative expression.
Many of Latvian medallists have a long experience in the field of medal art, working as sculptors and educators. Some artists have joined the Latvian Medal club recently.
Latvian national section of medal art was represented in FIDEM (International Medal Art Federation) XXXVII Congress exhibition in Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence 2023 with 25 works by 15 artists of a living generation.
Sculptural styles of the exhibited art medals of Latvian medallists varied individually. Many medals were realistic. They accurately showed pictorial likeness of cultural personalities or allegorically depicted philosophical ideas and existential issues. More than few artists responded via means of a tiny art medal to events near and far away, for instance to the war in Ukraine. Then some medals were quite abstract and nonrepresentational while still successfully revealing a purposeful association. Couple of medals were merely decorative, inducing joyful visual perception. Mostly being low relief medals, these small sculptural works also differed in form, size and material. Round and rectangular medals appeared classical by traditional convention. Free shape medals were not restricted by pure geometry, but rather accented characteristic silhouette of a particular image. Eventually the technique of sculpture proved to be an important factor. Half of the medallists made casts, produced in general out of bronze. The rest fabricated their work of composed substances, ceramic materials or created medals in mixed media, even experimented in intermediate art form.
Works of Latvian medallists are being collected. Latvian museums have a great number of medals in their stocks. There is the museum of medallic art at Dundaga castle with permanent as well as changing collections.

Keywords: art, low-relief, medal, medallic art, medallist, small-size sculpture.

In: Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2024. Proceedings of Scientific Papers = Cilvēks, tehnoloģijas un izglītības kvalitāte, 2024. Rakstu krājums.  Ed. L. Daniela. Riga: University of Latvia, 2024. 564 p.
ISBN 978-9934-36-301-6  
https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2024