Vilhelms Purvītis, landscape painter, teacher, first rector of the Art Academy of Latvia and director of the Latvian National Museum of Art, was one of the founders of the Latvian national school of painting. His diplomatic skills, sharp mind, perseverance and sense of justice enabled the preservation of Latvia’s national art values during various times of occupation and the rise of strong successors.

Vilhelms Purvītis (1872–1945) was a philosopher of art. The uniqueness of his work is the “composing” of his paintings. Almost none of the landscapes painted by Purvītis that can be seen in the National Museum of Art, Durbe Palace, the Presidential Palace, private collections and elsewhere can be seen in reality because they are “composed” – artificially staged. In his countless studies, Purvītis nurtured specific natural objects and brought them together in unique compositions and variations. “To organise the nature”, said Purvītis. For composition purposes, he suggested “transplanting” a tree elsewhere or “adding” a house.

His success was always based on work – the master did not tolerate idleness. Purvītis believed that it is very rare to determine who is a true artist by nature and who will become one through hard work. To motivate his students to work, he drew a line on the wall with charcoal and said: “Many of you will get to this point, maybe even all of you, but only a few of you will get past it. Beyond this line, the artist begins.”

But the greatest success for an artist is to find oneself. Purvītis trained a number of 20th-century Latvian artists in his studio – Ģederts Eliass, Kārlis Padegs, Ārija Skride, Arvīds Egle, Miervaldis Ķemers, Jānis Gailis, Margrieta Celmiņa, Edgars Vārdaunis, Kurts Fridrihsons and many others. He always believed that all his students were gifted, but no one should be lazy, because the real struggle would start when the artist was alone and had no one to ask for advice. Purvītis’ strong character, sharp mind, subtle sense of humour and also fragility are just some of the qualities that make up his personality, but the door of his apartment was always open to his students. Oto Grebže, a student of Vilhelms remembers: “Students used to call Purvītis… the old chap. Just like what Purvītis would call his father.”