Gunārs Krollis

Is a recognised Latvian master of the print and Professor Emeritus of the Latvian Academy of Art. He graduated from the J. Rozentāls Riga Secondary School of Art and the Graphic Art Department of the Latvian Academy of Art under the tuition of Professor A. Apinis. He has obtained a Master’s Degree in Art. Since 1987 he is Professor of the Latvian Academy of Art and from 1990 Head of the Etching Master Class at the Graphic Art Department. Since 1956 his work has been shown at more than 450 international exhibitions in Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Poland, Egypt, Britain, France, Canada, the USA, Japan, Austria, Jordan, China, Lebanon and elsewhere. He has held more than 40 solo exhibitions in Latvia and abroad.

The personal style of G. Krollis is very recognisable and highly acclaimed, as indicated by the awards received in Latvia and internationally (for example the prize and medal at the 1st International Print Biennial in Maastricht, Holland in 1994, a prize for the best etching at an exhibition of Graphic Art from the Baltic States at Falun in Sweden in 1993, and a diploma at the 2nd International Artist’s Book Triennial in Vilnius, Lithuania in 1984). The artist has worked in illustration since 1958 and has created book designs and illustrations for more than 200 books. He was nominated in 2005 for the Annual Prize for Book Publishing and in 2006 for the Jānis Baltvilks Prize for his illustrations to the book of fairy-tales “Tales of Pētergailis” (Pētergaiļa pasakas. R.: Pētergailis, 2005). He was nominated in 2006 for the Annual Prize for Book Publishing and in 2007 received the Pastariņš Prize for his illustrations to the “Rascal Book” by D. Dreika (Rakargrāmata. R.: Daugava, 2006).

For me the illustrations in a children’s book, together with the text, are like a twosome.  The author is playing around with situations, while the artist is visually defining an imaginary world. (Gunārs Krollis)