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Gnome, the [Latv. Rukis].
Latvian group of artists active in St Petersburg in the 1890s. It was founded (1892–3) by Latvian students attending the principal art institutions in St Petersburg, apparently on the suggestion of Karlis Petersons (1836–1908), a Latvian art teacher in the city. Established simultaneously with the growth of the Russian Revival movement and new Russification policies in the Baltic region, the group chose a name synonymous with hard work and oppression. It aimed democratically to express and promote national identity through art, and to this end it utilized both a realistic approach and a number of motifs from Latvian history, folk art and ethnography. It also sought to establish and promote a high professional standard for Latvian artists. Led by Adams Alksnis (1864–97), who graduated from the St Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1892, the group was comprised of students from the Academy: the painters Arturs Baumanis (1865–1904), Peteris Balodis (1867–1914), JANIS TEODORS VALTERS (chairman of the group after Alksnis’s death), JANIS ROZENTALS and VILHELMS PURVITIS; students of the Baron Stieglitz Central Institute of Technical Drawing: the graphic artists Richard Zarrins (1869–1939), Gotlibs Lapins (1859–after 1939) and Ernest Ziverts (1879–1937); the designers Julijs Madernieks (1870–1955), Janis Libergs (1862–1933) and Julijs Janunkalnins (1866–1919); and the sculptors TEODORS ZALKALNS and Gustavs Skilters (1874–1954). Students of music at the St Petersburg Conservatoire were also members: the composers Alfreds Kalnins (1879–1951), Emilis Melngailis (1874–1954), Peteris Pauls Jozuus (1873–1937) and Pavuls Jurjans (1866–1948).
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