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Riga Art Nouveau Museum was opened on April 23rd, 2009. It is located in the apartment where the outstanding Latvian architect Konstantins Peksens (1859 – 1928) lived until 1907.
The building was constructed in 1903 as K. Peksens' private house. The project for it is the work of K. Peksens himself together with Eizens Laube, then a student of architecture. The building is notable for its extremely powerful dimensions and expressive silhouette. The ornamental reliefs, craftily incorporated in the architectonic shape, feature stylized motifs from the local flora and fauna – fir needles and cones and squirrels. The building has a spiral staircase with ornamental ceiling paintings, quite possibly sketched by the prominent Latvian artist Janis Rozentals. This Art Nouveau staircase is among the most impressive not only in Riga but also the whole of Europe.
Originated from a small fishermen village, for centuries Riga has been an important part of the trade chain between Russia and Western Europe. A lively crossroad of cultures and backgrounds for over 800 years, the historical centre of Riga has accumulated an impressive cultural baggage and today is justly included in the UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
