Gustavs Šķilters

Gustavs Šķilters was born in present-day Rencēni Parish, the son of a blacksmith, and trained to become an artist in Saint Petersburg.

He traveled to Germany and spent much time in Paris, where he was influenced by the flowering of Art Nouveau and studied sculpture under Paul Richer and Gustave Germain [fr].

After his return to Saint Petersburg in 1905, he took up teaching sculpture at the present-day Saint Petersburg Art and Industry Academy, a position he would hold for the next thirteen years except for a short spell working for jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé.

Following the Latvian War of Independence, Šķilters moved to Riga and took up the newly created position of professor at the Art Academy of Latvia in 1923.

Several of his works exist only as plaster models, an effect of there not being any professional foundries in Latvia during the time in which he was active.