Romans Suta's 1926 Inuit Motif Porcelain Plate Examined in Context of Latvian Avant-Garde and Indigenous Knowledge
The Latvian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Riga houses a 1926 porcelain plate named 'Inuit Motif,' created by the artist Romans Suta, which illustrates an Inuk seal hunter. Although Suta was part of the Baltars studio during its creation, he lacked any direct experience in the Arctic. The artwork is influenced by 'polar pop,' drawing inspiration from Robert Flaherty's 1922 film 'Nanook of the North' and the Fifth Thule Expedition led by Knud Rasmussen from 1921 to 1924. Scholar Bart Pushaw examines the piece within the context of colonial connections between the Baltic and Bering Strait areas, making comparisons with a self-portrait by Inupiaq photographer Charles Menadelook and a 19th-century ivory drill bow. The study also highlights the impact of the Russian-American Company's fur trade and Indigenous knowledge on global modernism.
Key facts
- Romans Suta created 'Inuit Motif' in 1926 as a painted porcelain plate.
- The artwork is held at the Latvian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Riga, Latvia.
- Suta co-founded the Baltars studio with Aleksandra Beļcova and Sigismunds Vidbergs.
- Suta was active in Latvian avant-garde groups Rīgas mākslinieku grūpa and Zaļā vārna from 1920 to 1939.
- The plate reflects 'polar pop' influences like Robert Flaherty's 1922 film 'Nanook of the North'.
- Inupiaq photographer Charles Menadelook produced a self-portrait between 1912 and 1917.
- A 19th-century engraved ivory drill bow collected by Ferdinand von Wrangell is at the Estonian History Museum in Tallinn, Estonia.
- The Russian-American Company exploited Alutiiq labor and drove species like sea otters toward extinction in the 18th-19th centuries.
Entities
Artists
- Romans Suta
- Aleksandra Beļcova
- Sigismunds Vidbergs
- Charles Menadelook
- Lisa Reihana
- Joseph Senungetuk
- Lūcija Zamaiča
- Robert Flaherty
- Knud Rasmussen
- Ferdinand von Wrangell
- Otto von Kotzebue
- Adolf Etholén
- Elbridge Ayer Burbank
- Standing Bear
Institutions
- Latvian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design
- Baltars
- Rīgas mākslinieku grūpa
- Zaļā vārna
- Estonian History Museum
- Kumu Art Museum
- Finnish National Museum
- University of Tartu
- Russian-American Company
- ARTMargins Online
- The MIT Press
- Routledge
- University of Washington Press
- Sealaska Heritage Institute
- McGill-Queen’s University Press
- Yale University Press
- Oxford University Press
- W. W. Norton
- Stanford University Press
- Duke University Press
- The Indian Historian Press
- Institute of Art History of the Latvian Academy of Arts
- National Board of Antiquities of Finland
Locations
- Riga
- Latvia
- Tallinn
- Estonia
- Helsinki
- Finland
- Arkhangelsk
- Russia
- Alaska
- United States
- Nunavut
- Canada
- Nunavik
- Nunatsiavut
- Greenland
- Bering Strait
- Kotzebue
- Tierra del Fuego
- Beijing
- China
- Cambridge, MA
- London
- New York
- Norman, OK
- Seattle
- Anchorage
- San Francisco
- Stanford
- Durham, NC
- Arizona
- Belgium