The sculpture collection

The collection of sculptures at the museum is the smallest one in numerical terms – fewer than 2,000 artworks, covering the development of Latvian sculpture from the origins in the late 19th and early 20th century and continuing on to works created in recent years. Several Latvian sculptors have worked largely in the field of monumental sculpture, and their works are too large for museum collections. That is why the museum cannot offer an historically complete and objective look at Latvian sculpture. Some artists who worked in the field of monumental sculpture – Kārlis Zāle and Kārlis Jansons, for example – are represented in the collection very fragmentarily.

At the same time, however, the museum does offer a fine look at the work of other distinguished sculptors such as Teodors Zaļkalns, Emīls Melderis, Lea Davidova-Medene, and many others.

A separate branch in the collection is that of sculptors who have mostly worked with wood – something which often relates to the applied arts and to folk art. These artists include Arturs Bērnieks, Arvīds Brastiņš, Miķelis Pankoks, Līze Dzeguze, and others. The collection also contains a substantial selection of medallions. Spatial objects which represent their era and have been created over the last several decades are also in the collection.