In May the participants of the EBRD Board of Governors’ Annual
Meeting will visit the exhibition of Latvian artists in the National Art Museum. To help
maintain the museum as a prestige exhibition venue open for visits of city guests as well
as local Riga residents, last autumn Riga City Council advanced 70 thousand lats for the
reconstruction of the National Art Museum’s main stairway – i.e. for the restoration
of the stairway and construction of an area for the electric power transformer substation
The tendered right to perform the above said construction works was awarded to the
construction company Restaurators, which launched work in October.
The National Art Museum was built in 1905 after the project of the
outstanding art expert, architect and the first director of the museum Vilhelms Neimanis.
Bearing in mind that the building was erected in the period of the Art Nouveau upsurge,
the interiors of the building can boast many Art Nouveau details, like the stairway
banisters, stained glass in the lobby etc., and this building belongs to one of the last
examples of eclectics. Mara Lace, Director of the National Art Museum, admits that no big
reconstruction works have been performed at the building over its lifetime, however, from
time to time smaller refurbishment works were performed for the maintenance of the
building. The National Art Museum rates among the most visited objects of Riga, which also
increased the need for restoration.
The facade stairway of the museum was in a critical state. The roof of
the building and the electricity system also caused a lot of problems. A partial solution
will be reached through the restoration of the stairway and construction of an area for
the electric power transformer substation. The next step will be the construction of the
substation itself. This will allow us to think of a more upgraded lighting of the museum,
as we have already exhausted the existing capacities.
The future objective of the museum’s management is a total
reconstruction of the museum, in order to create necessary conditions for exhibiting and
viewing works of art both for the benefit of storing the exhibits and convenience of
visitors.
Once in a while we refurbishment of the halls has been carried out –
all halls have been repainted, although the walls are spacious and it has not been an easy
job. During the mid-eighties the restoration of the ground floor lobby was performed and
the gilding was renovated. According to Mara Lace, this was a very expensive project,
nevertheless, the museum managed it, and by virtue of this the lobby is fresh and splendid
now.
To the extent possible, the building was maintained in a rather good
condition, which is an evidence of the popularity of the museum. However, the Director of
the museum believes that the museum is now near the critical edge, and it requires
cardinal technical improvements.
Mara Lace is sure that every event such as the exhibition of the
Latvian artists scheduled in May is very significant to the museum from several aspects.
First of all, the visitors of the exhibition will have a chance to see a considerably wide
spectrum of art, as well as to assess the cultural potential of Latvia. Besides, the
museum leaves a good visual impression on visitors. The exhibition will draw the attention
of the local financial community, the Government and the Municipality - people who have a
say in the financing matters of the museum - to the activities of the museum. And they
will have a chance to appreciate the museum as one of the most attractive cultural objects
for visitors of Riga.
It will be a unique opportunity to see the exhibition of Latvian
artists in May and June, taking into account that the situation with exhibition halls is
rather critical in Riga and the art of the respective period is not represented elsewhere.
