While many of Latvia’s best museums have compiled all-encompassing 100-year retrospective exhibitions in honour of the nation’s centenary, the Museum of Romans Suta and Aleksandra Beļcova has decided to concentrate on one single year. Although independence had been declared in 1918, the fledgling state was still under threat and had yet to be recognised by the international community in 1919. Nevertheless, it was an incredibly productive year in many respects, including art. In fact, one of the ways the new government attempted to educate statesmen abroad about Latvian culture was via its art. 1919. Latvia’s 1st Anniversary focuses on the so-called Expressionists, a group of extraordinary Latvian painters including Romans Suta (and his wife Aleksandra Beļcova), Konrāds Ubāns, Valdemārs Tone, Oto Skulme, Jēkabs Kazaks and Niklāvs Strunke who introduced the new nation to Modernism. Images courtesy of the Museum of Romans Suta and Aleksandra Beļcova