The memorial collection of Boriss Bērziņš

In 2002, the artist Boriss Bērziņš (1930-2002) bequeathed his entire creative estate to the Latvian National Museum of Art. This included paintings, graphic art and drawings. The artist recorded the everyday events of life, work, the surrounding environment and his household in many different ways, and these were endless sources of inspiration in his creativity. The centre of the collection consists of several thousand drawings, including completely finished ones and ones that are just basic sketches.

The collection also includes a small selection of artworks by the late artist’s spouse, Rasma Bruzīte (1919-2001). There are a few older porcelain figures, but mostly models for sculptures, along with a few student-era drawings and sketches.

The collection also includes books, documents, photographs and several objects which Boriss Bērziņš used in his work. It has taken several years to process and register all of the estate in accordance with the museum’s specific regulations for registration and storage. More than 6,200 units have been inventoried at this time.

The artworks are regularly exhibited at various art exhibitions. Since 2007, the Small Hall of the LNMM has been the site of an annual exhibition of art from the collection, including artworks that have never been seen in public before. Each year specialists choose one of the topics that Boriss Bērziņš loved – “Backs” (2007), “Skirts” (2008), and “Sauna” (2009, together with Rasma Bruzīte). This year, in honour of the 80th anniversary of the artist’s birth, there will be the exhibition “Portraits and Self-Portraits.”