Espresso coffee beans

Brazil, Campos Das Vertentes 80 % / Colombia 20 %

The artist Niklāvs Strunke (1894–1966) is credited by the poet Aleksandrs Čaks and other contemporaries with introducing the Italian greeting “ciao” to Riga.

While his peers were rushing off to Paris, the most famous “Latvian Italian” lived in Rome, on the island of Capri, and in Florence from 1923 to 1927, also traveling through Venice, Tuscany, the Bay of Naples, and the Amalfi Coast.

In the Eternal City, captivated by Italy, the pittore lettone rented a studio near the Vatican; in Florence, he settled in the old town of Oltrarno; and on Capri, he stayed on the Marina Grande side.

The interwar years spent in Italy had a profound influence on the original artistic expression of this versatile Latvian modernist and apprentice of the old masters.

With its stripped-down, abstracted composition, harmonious proportions and rhythm, and vibrant local color, the small painting Sorrento (1924–1925), executed on a wooden panel, stands as an icon of Strunke’s easel painting and his “Latvian Italian” identity.

During his Italian period, Strunke’s artistic style became a distinctive fusion of modernist geometrization and inspiration drawn from Italian primitivism.

"I have always yearned to return to nature. If only I could stay there, take root in the forest floor from autumn through winter, perhaps death would not seem so terrifying."

The artwork addresses the fear of death through Latvian oral folklore and the ecological
aspects of death. The artist aims to create a space where death is recognised as a normal, albeit unpleasant, part of life.

This interdisciplinary composition serves as a meditation on the fear of death. The
mythological forest depicted in the painting establishes a sense of a location suspended between life and death, in space and time. Accompanying scents and sounds enhance the atmosphere, evoking associations with nature that feel slightly off, resulting in an uncanny mood. Viewers are invited to immerse themselves in this environment and explore their feelings regarding mortality.