Iulii Maderniek

Born Feb. 15 (27), 1870, in Gulbene Raion; died July 19, 1955, in Riga. Soviet artist. Honored Art Worker of the Latvian SSR (1945).

Maderniek studied in St. Petersburg at Baron Shtiglits’ Central School of Technical Drawing from 1892 to 1898. Beginning in 1903 he worked in Latvia, teaching in his own studio in Riga from about 1904 to 1914. He worked primarily in applied art, employing Latvian national designs in his sketches for fabrics, carpets, and furniture. Maderniek is credited with reviving Latvian applied art in the 20th century.