Watercolor and ink cityscape with stylized building facades, arches, and black outlines in blue, beige, and orange tones.

Romans Suta and Aleksandra Beļcova Museum

Artworks by Romans Suta

Romans Suta (1896–1944) was an extraordinary creative and multifaceted personality. He not only painted, designed and illustrated books and created designs for theatre plays and motion pictures, but also managed his own art studio, wrote essays on art for the press, established and operated within the “Baltars” porcelain painting workshop and developed furniture and interior design projects.

Painted portrait of a man wearing a red cap with a pipe in his mouth and blue clothing against a blue-gray background.

Romans Suta. Self-Portrait with a Pipe. 1919. Oil on canvas. LNMA collection

Abstract composition of geometric planes and forms in a painted still life, showing stairs, cylinders, pipes and glass vessels.

Romans Suta. Still Life with a Pipe. 1923. Oil on canvas. LNMA collection

Abstract painting of a stylized female figure with closed eyes holding a cylindrical object in a blue and green interior.

Romans Suta. Woman with a Guitar. 1923. Oil on canvas. LNMA collection

Abstract painting with geometric, colorful shapes in red, blue, pink, and black tones.

Romans Suta. Harlequin with a Guitar. 1923. Oil on canvas. LNMA collection

Figurative painting of a seated man in a red hat playing a banjo and a woman sitting behind him with a musical instrument on her lap, in an interior with a brown background.

Romans Suta. Artist Jānis Plase with his Girlfriend. 1927. Oil on canvas. LNMA collection

Portrait painting of a woman against a blue-gray background, shown standing with her arms crossed.

Romans Suta. Woman in Blue. 1930s. Oil on canvas. LNMA collection

Painted bust portrait of a bald man against a dark background.

Romans Suta. Self-Portrait. Late 1930s. Oil on canvas. LNMA collection

Black-and-white ink drawing of a spatial composition showing a man’s portrait in a cap, two smaller figures, and geometric interior elements.

Romans Suta. Self-Portrait in the Workshop of Stage Design. 1929. Indian ink on paper. LNMA collection

A musician group drawn in black ink on yellowish paper plays around a table, rendered with sweeping gestures and expressive stylized silhouettes.

Romans Suta. Countryside band. 1928-1934. Indian ink on paper. LNMA collection

A red and pink watercolor drawing shows four stylized human figures standing in an interior with large planes in the background.

Romans Suta. Wrestlers Walking out into the Arena. 1915/1917–1919. Watercolour on paper. LNMA collection

Black-and-white drawing of an industrial city scene with human figures and building silhouettes beneath a bridge or metal structure.

Romans Suta. From the series Street. Late 1920s. Indian ink on paper. LNMA collection

Ink drawing composition with several human figures around a large clock and architectural structural elements on a yellowish paper background.

Romans Suta. Sale. From the series Street. Late 1920s. Indian ink on paper. LNMA collection

Black-and-white ink drawing of several stylized figures on a city street, including a lamppost and part of a bicycle.

Romans Suta. People on the Street. From the series Street. Late 1920s. Indian ink on paper. LNMA collection

Black-and-white drawing of two stylized nude female figures in an interior with curtains, with a small bird above them.

Romans Suta. Woman and a Dove. Early 1920s. Indian ink on paper. LNMA collection

The collection of artworks by Romans Suta comprises slightly more than 1500 museum objects, including the author’s oil paintings, porcelain items crafted at the “Baltars” workshop and M.S. Kuznecov factory, Indian ink drawings, watercolours, sketches for book illustrations and tableware, costume and set design studies for theatre performances and films, and furniture built according to his designs. The museum’s display reflects Romans Suta’s achievements in each sphere of his activity and illustrates different phases of his creative career. Overall, the largest numerical group of works within the collection consists of tableware sketches, alongside set and costume design studies for theatrical productions.

Colorful avant-garde figure in a white costume with red and black accents, shown against a plain light background.

Romans Suta. Costume sketch for the Executioner in Carlo Gozzi's play "Princess Turandot". 1926. Gouache on cardboard. LNMA collection

Colored stylized figure composition on brown paper, depicting a person with raised hands in a traditional costume with yellow, blue, and black shapes.

Romans Suta. Costume sketch for Altoum, Emperor of China, in Carlo Gozzi's play "Princess Turandot". 1926. Gouache on cardboard. LNMA collection

Abstract multicolored painting with building facades, street details, and lettering at the top.

Romans Suta. Set design study for I. Stravinsky’s ballet “Pulcinella”. 1933. Gouache on paper. LNMA collection

Several colorful figures in costume sketched with ink and pencil on a brown sheet of paper, arranged in two rows.

Romans Suta. Series of costume design studies for I. Stravinsky’s ballet “Pulcinella”. 1933. Gouache on paper. LNMA collection

Porcelain plate with a painted rural dance and music scene, showing people and animals in a circular composition.

Romans Suta. Decorative plate Open-air Ball. 1926. Porcelain. LNMA collection

Round decorative plate with a stylized abstract composition in red-brown, white and black tones depicting horses and human figures.

Romans Suta. Decorative plate 1905. 1928. Porcelain. LNMA collection

Round decorative plate with a cubist composition of horses and riders in black, white, brown, and red tones.

Romans Suta. Decorative plate The Bermontian Campaign. 1928. Porcelain. LNMA collection

Round decorative ceramic plate with a stylized rural scene and human figures in brown, red, blue, and white tones.

Romans Suta. Decorative plate The Wedding. Ca. 1928. Porcelain. LNMA collection

Brown-glazed ceramic vase with a painting of classical Greek-style figures on a light background.

Romans Suta. Vase Woman with a Deer. 1937. Glazed clay. LNMA collection

Watercolor sketch of three horses and a cart on a light background, with broad green-blue brushstrokes above and below the composition.

Romans Suta. Design study for the porcelain vase Horse Racing. 1930s. Watercolour on paper. LNMA collection

Abstract watercolor and pencil composition on yellowed paper with geometric rectangles in black, blue, pink and gray.

Romans Suta. Interior sketch for a public space (exhibition hall / display space). 1919-1941. Pencil and watercolour on paper. LNMA collection

Watercolor and ink interior sketch showing a room with walls, a fireplace, doors and furniture.

Romans Suta. Interior sketch in Art Deco style. 1930s. Pencil and watercolour on paper. LNMA collection

Watercolor sketch of a loosely abstract interior scene with human silhouettes, large red and blue areas, and geometric lines on yellowish paper.

Romans Suta. Study for a wall panel featuring a festive motif – sketch for the tapestry The Wedding. 1919-1941. Pencil and watercolour on paper. LNMA collection

Among the best-known objects in the collection are Suta’s 1920s paintings Still Life with a Pipe, Harlequin, Artist Jānis Plase with his Girlfriend and Open-Air Dance. Exceptional, too, are his Indian ink drawings Clearance Sale, Strike and others. Of the set and costume design, the most striking examples include sketches for Carlo Gozzi’s play Princess Turandot (Jelgava Workers’ Theatre, 1926) and Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Pulcinella (Latvian National Opera, 1933). Unique artifacts withing the collection also include furniture sets crafted after Suta’s sketches – a table for the café “Sukub”, as well as two tables and a stool for the café “Luna” (“Mona”).

Artworks by Romans Suta

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