Aleksejs Naumovs

Graduated from J. Rozentāls Riga Secondary School of Art and the Monumental Painting Department of the Latvian Academy of Art under the tuition of Professor Indulis Zariņš, continuing his training in the master class of Professor Eduards Kalniņš. He received a French government scholarship (Sorbonne Art Plastiques, L” Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts dе Paris) to study painting in Paris. He has been Professor of the Latvian Academy of Art, and since 2007 is Rector of the Latvian Academy of Art. He is active in Latvian culture, a member of many competition juries, has been the cultural attaché of the Republic of Latvia to France and a guest professor at several art academies in Europe. He has been the initiator, leader, exchange programme organiser and exhibition curator for various collaborative art projects in Italy, Sicily, France, Japan, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Russia, the USA and elsewhere. Naumovs is an outstanding plein air painter. He has regularly participated in exhibitions since 1979, has taken part in and organised more than 50 group exhibitions and art projects, promoting the creative activities of students, and developing international contacts and cooperation with art academies in various parts of the world. He has held 60 solo exhibitions. The activities and contribution of A. Naumovs have also been recognised by the Latvian state: he has been awarded the country”s highest award, Commander of the Cross of Merit.

For almost twenty years, Naumovs has regularly created various publications relating to the teaching work, professional activities and achievements of the Latvian Academy of Art. Many of these book projects have been created in collaboration with artist Aivars Sprūdžs, a master of book design. An important book in the history of Latvian art is the anniversary album of the Latvian Academy of Art (A. Naumovs, A. Sprūdžs, J. Blanks. Latvijas Mākslas akadēmija. 1921–1996. R.: Jāņa Sēta, 1996), the authors of which introduced new design principles, creating an original, high-quality publication. In collaboration with A. Sprūdžs he created the design for outstanding books illustrated by A. Paegle, which have regularly won acclaim in competitions (M. Cielēna. “Tales of the City and Tales of the World” – Pilsētas pasakas un pasaules pasakas. R.: Preses Nams, 2001; M. Cielēna. “When the Queen was in Riga” – Kad karaliene bij Rīgā. R.: Jāņa Rozes apgāds, 2001, and many others). Naumovs’ contribution to children’s book illustration earned him a nomination to the 2008 Jānis Baltvilks Prize. His painted illustrations in the book “Tale of the Beaver of the Tebra” by M. Rungulis (Pasaka par Tebras bebru. R.: Pētergailis, 2007) won him a special award for illustrations to children’s literature in the 2007 competition for the Annual Prize for Book Publishing. In the 2003 Annual Prize for Book Publishing competition he was awarded second prize for his work on the book “Fairy Tales About Twosomes” by M. Cielēna (Pasakas par diviem. R.: ALIS, 2003). The book was included in the White Ravens List of the International Youth Library (Munich), and for this book Naumovs was listed on the 2006 IBBY Honour List of world illustration.

Published at the beginning of 2011 was a new book by M. Cielēna, “Princess Aurelia and the Tree Ghosts”, all the illustrations painted by Naumovs, (designed by A. Sprūdžs, R. Liepiņš, Princese Aurēlija un kokspoki. R.: SIA Lietusdārzs, 2011). A magical tale inspired paintings of Aleksejs Naumovs and made this fairytale book resemble a book on art. This book was nominated and received the first prize in the book art competition Zelta ābele 2010 and also the Jānis Baltvilks Prize for Book Art 2011. For this book Naumovs was listed on the 2012 IBBY Honour List of world illustrators.

Illustration is process. (Aleksejs Naumovs)