Jānis Ferdinands Tīdemanis

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Biography

Jānis Ferdinands Tīdemanis was born on October 1, 1897, in Ventspils, as the only child of his mother Anna Tīdemane. The boy grew up without his father. Johan or Jānis Ferdinands Tīdemanis has been a world citizen since birth. As a child, he enjoyed staying in the port, where life was bubbling and he had the opportunity to feel foreign winds. Instead of attending school, he spent time doing various lucrative jobs. At an early age, at the age of 14, he started working as a sailor, so he got the chance to travel the world and to know different cultures and people.[1]
In 1911, he went to the United States, where he attended art schools in Cleveland and New York, worked as a decorator and did various jobs on ships. In 1921, he acquired US citizenship.[2] In 1922 he married Elvīra Mituze, known as Hannele. Hannele is a model, inspiration and muse for many of his portraits. The artist himself has said that he has painted Hannel at least 100 times. In the same year he entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and completed his diploma with thesis “Sadness”. After he continued his studies. In 1923, he acquired Latvian citizenship.[3]
He has participated in solo and group exhibitions since the 1930s, but as he got older, he participated in group exhibitions less and less. Both because he believed that the great artists did not perform in group exhibitions, but also because of the frequent changes in life that made him change his places of residence. The artist has a huge number of achievements, the first of which is the victory in the Belgian national competition dedicated to the 10th Los Angeles Olympic Games. Tīdemanis’ “Canal Swimmer” was exhibited in Los Angeles. In 1935, the artist created frescoes for the Latvian pavilion at the World EXPO and received the Grand Prix diploma.[4]
In 1936 he moved back to Riga and a year later divorced his wife Hannele. Two years after the divorce, he married Anastasija Šķēle. In 1944, the artist emigrated to Germany and Switzerland. In 1948, he was forced to move to Canada because he was deported from Switzerland for beating up an art critic. Life in Canada was not easy because artists were not recognized there, especially foreigners.[5]
He died on April 12, 1964, and is buried abroad in the Toronto cemetery.[6]

Artistic Description

The artist’s painting style, as well as his personality, was bold against the background of artists in Latvia. When returning to Latvia at the end of the 1920s, he brought unprecedented expressiveness and splendour. The main means of expression was a colour that matched the artist’s expressive nature. Tīdemanis pulls images out of the darkness that are uncharacteristic for the painting of that time, but symbolically matches with the stormy life and adventurous nature. He has played the game between light and dark all his life.[7]
The artist’s stylistics were influenced by Belgian painting style, as he had settled there for the early stages of his artistic creativity. Peter Lewis and Felix Gogo were the first teachers of Tīdemanis at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, laying the foundations for Tīdemanis’ Flemish expressionist style. At the beginning, Tīdemanis’ paintings are characterized by a realistic interpretation of forms, but as he grew and developed as an artist, the originality and uniqueness emerged. Belgian modernism and Fauvism are similar to Tīdemanis’ style, but no one paints the way he does. There are similarities with the Belgian expressionism and the surrealist painter James Ensor.[8]
Tīdemanis has been a real city artist. He depicted the bustling and restless nature of the city centre. He painted the environment around him, people, social events, including carnivals and sports, which no one in Latvia had done before. The paintings are dominated by chromatic tones – carmine red, yellow, orange, ultramarine and emerald green. The artist uses white light reflection accents.[9]
Tīdemanis painted with very high-quality paints that were available in Belgium, United Kingdom and France. He has also used shiny varnishes to add shine, depth and transparency to his paintings. The artist painted quickly, without sketches. It was extremely interesting to watch the artist paint, due to his characteristic of strength and scope.[10]
Tīdemanis has painted both – landscapes and still-life, but he is especially outstanding as a master of portraits and figural compositions. He himself has admitted that the model must first be known, and only then can he paint it. Hannele was a particularly great model, because of her light hair and dark, big eyes. He has also painted very vivid and beautiful nudes.[11]
In his early youth, while working at sea, Tīdemanis visited the collections of Western European museums and was inspired by old masters, which can also be seen in his paintings, especially in the early stages. When signing the works, Tīdemanis mostly used the colour of cadmium red.[12]

Interesting Facts

Tīdemanis practised boxing. Once a conflict began with a Swiss art critic who spoke sharply and rudely about Tīdemanis’ works. He took revenge on the critic and caused a fight, after which he was deported from Switzerland.[13]
He has been extremely sociable, which helped him to make useful contacts. For example, while at sea, he once met wealthy Americans who had accompanied him as a mediator so that they could buy diamonds from Jewish merchants. For the received commission, Tīdemanis rented an entire castle in Antwerp, but there was no money left to live on. The artist's turbulent nature and grandiose ego have provided both – opportunities and setbacks.[14]
The artist loved to celebrate life, and in his apartment on Skolas Street bohemian events took place in which famous representatives of Latvian culture from the beginning of the 20th century took a part. Not only the bohemian lifestyle, but also the adventurous nature has caused many troubles in artists life.[15]
The artist’s second wife Anastasija Šķēle made interesting and atypical frames. They complemented the extravagant works of Tīdemanis.[16]

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[1] Zvirbulis, T., Ģēģere, I., u.c. Jānim Ferdinandam Tīdemanim – 110., Rīga: Galerija Birkenfelds, 2007.
[2] Latvijas Mākslas Izstāžu hronikas. “Dokumentālā filma “Jānis Tīdemanis””. March 18, 2018. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkXp2WkeWTQ
[3] Zvirbulis, T., Ģēģere, I., u.c. Jānim Ferdinandam Tīdemanim – 110., Rīga: Galerija Birkenfelds, 2007.
[4] Latvijas Mākslas Izstāžu hronikas. “Dokumentālā filma “Jānis Tīdemanis””. March 18, 2018. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkXp2WkeWTQ
[5] Zvirbulis, T., Ģēģere, I., u.c. Jānim Ferdinandam Tīdemanim – 110., Rīga: Galerija Birkenfelds, 2007.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ģēģere, I. Jānis Ferdinands Tīdemanis., Rīga: Neputns, 2017.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Latvijas Mākslas Izstāžu hronikas. “Dokumentālā filma “Jānis Tīdemanis””. March 18, 2018. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkXp2WkeWTQ
[11] Ģēģere, I. Jānis Ferdinands Tīdemanis., Rīga: Neputns, 2017.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Latvijas Mākslas Izstāžu hronikas. “Dokumentālā filma “Jānis Tīdemanis””. March 18, 2018. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkXp2WkeWTQ
[16] Ibid.