Black-and-white photograph of several men seated at small tables in a bright room with large windows and decorative geometric forms on the walls.

Romans Suta and Aleksandra Beļcova Museum

Memorial Documents Collection

The memorial documents collection of Romans Suta and Aleksandra Beļcova comprises correspondence, personal documents, photographs, and various manuscripts of both artists, their daughter Tatjana Suta and Romans’ mother Natālija Amālija Suta. This archive entered the museum according to the last will and testament of Tatjana Suta, together with artworks and other objects located in the artists’ apartment.

Black-and-white photograph of a man and a woman by a table outdoors, with the woman wearing a patterned headscarf and holding an open book or album.

Aleksandra Beļcova and Romans Suta. 1930s. Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

A black-and-white photograph shows a man seated with a little girl on his lap, surrounded by two women, in a room with a decorative wall hanging.

Aleksandra Beļcova, Romans Suta, Tatjana Suta, and Natālija Suta. Late 1920s. Photo: O. Laiva. LNMM Collection

Black-and-white photograph of four men seated at small tables in a bright room with large windows and hanging abstract decorations.

Artists of the Riga Group of Artists at the Sukubs café. 1920. From left: Valdemārs Tone, Niklāvs Strunke, Oto Skulme, Romans Suta. Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

Black-and-white group portrait of nine people indoors beneath a large arch and beside a door.

Riga Group of Artists. 1923. 1st row from left: Oto Skulme, Aleksandra Beļcova, Sigismunds Vidbergs, Marta Skulme, Valdemārs Tone. 2nd row from left: Uga Skulme, Erasts Šveics, Romans Suta, Jānis Liepiņš, Leo Svemps, Konrāds Ubāns. Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

Black-and-white photograph of a woman in a coat and hat standing by a stone wall in a mountain landscape.

Aleksandra Beļcova in the South of France. Late 1920s. Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

Hand-drawn interior sketch of a woman at a table in a room with windows, chairs, paintings and a hanging lamp; handwritten notes appear below.

Aleksandra Beļcova’s letter to her sister Marija from Riga. 24 May 1921. LNMM Collection

Black-and-white photograph of an exhibition hall with wall displays, vitrines, benches, and a large mural on the back wall.

View of the Latvian display in the Baltic States Pavilion at the World's Fair in Paris. Postcard. 1937. Photo: H. Chipault. LNMM Collection

Black-and-white abstract composition with geometric shapes, a tilted newspaper fragment with the word JUGEND, and a large white circle on a dark background.

Image of Aleksandra Beļcova's artwork Still Life with the Newspaper "Jugend". Mid-1920s. Photo: Pēteris Zonvalds. LNMM Collection

Typewritten French letter on yellowed paper with fold lines, dated Paris 12 February 1924.

Letter from Édouard Jeanneret (pseudonym Le Corbusier) to Romans Suta. 12 February 1924. LNMM Collection

Folded yellowed typewritten letter with French text, blue handwritten corrections and a signature.

Letter from Édouard Jeanneret (pseudonym Le Corbusier) to Romans Suta. 12 February 1924. LNMM Collection

The collection has more than 2 700 items. The largest portion consists of photographs depicting not only members of the Suta family, but also prominent figures of the first half of the 20^th century – writers, poets and artists. The photographs capture gatherings on the interwar creative intelligentsia, carnivals, exhibition openings and other events. Contemporary researchers and collectors will find particular interest in the photographs of the 1920s and 1930s artworks contained in the collection, for certain lost masterpieces of modernism, these images serve as the sole surviving documentation. Select letters written by Aleksandra Beļcova and Romans Suta function not only as vital biographical and historical evidence, but also feature original sketches drawn alongside the text.

An exceptionally valuable artifact within this collection is a letter written by Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret) to Romans Suta, in which the famous architect responds to criticisms of modernism that appeared in the Latvian press during the early 1920s.

Typed French letter headed L’Art d’Aujourd’hui, dated 9 October 1925, about an international contemporary art exhibition in Paris, with a signature at the bottom.

Letter from the Exhibition Committee of L'Art d'Aujourd'hui (on behalf of the committee – V. Poznanski). 9 October 1925. LNMM Collection

Vintage panoramic photograph of the town of Vence, showing dense hillside buildings and trees in the foreground.

Postcard. 1920s – early 1930s. LNMM Collection

A man stands in an interior beside wall paintings and collages in an avant-garde style, including a large framed composition with text.

Romans Suta at the Press Ball. 1927. Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

Woman in a shiny backless dress stands beside a decorative cubist stage backdrop with lettering and stylized figures.

Aleksandra Beļcova at the Press Ball. 1927. Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

Black-and-white photograph of two women in light dresses seated in a living room by an open window.

Biruta Ozoliņa posing for Aleksandra Beļcova's painting White and Black. 1925. Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

Black-and-white photograph of a large group of women in white aprons and head coverings, seated and standing in a room with geometric wall decoration and a painting on the wall.

Natālija Suta with students of her home economics course at the Sukubs café. First half to mid-1920s (no earlier than 1922). Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

Black-and-white interior photograph with a geometric chair, shelves with dishes, and round decorative plates arranged on the wall.

Interior of the "Baltars" showroom. 1925. Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

Abstract black-and-white composition with geometric forms resembling a vase, a cylinder, and architectural elements on a dark background.

Photograph of Romans Suta's artwork Still Life with a Bottle. 1923. Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

Black-and-white colored cubist collage with multiple fragmented human, architectural and maritime motifs, including female figures at center and an anchor symbol in the lower right corner.

Photograph of Romans Suta's textile wall panel. 1930s. Photographer unknown. LNMM Collection

Black-and-white circular graphic showing a stylized female portrait with geometric shapes, with the inscription R. SUTA and Porcelāns below.

Photograph of Romans Suta's decorative plate ("Baltars"). Photographer of the re-photographed image unknown (original photo: P. Zonvalds, second half of the 1920s). 1960s–1970s. LNMM Collection

Copies of select items from this collection are on view in the museum’s permanent display, including family photographs, scenes from the artists’ travels, postcards brought back from their trips, as well as a photographic gallery showcasing the active social life of Aleksandra Beļcova and Romans Suta.

Memorial Documents Collection

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