During the summer season, the Riga Art Nouveau Centre invites you to visit the exhibition “Pansies”. It is dedicated to one of the most charming and symbolic flowers in Europe and presents a diverse representation of the pansy flower in art and everyday objects. Depiction of pansies can be found in interior items, dishes, postcards and even clothing. The exhibition features objects from more than twenty Latvian museums, as well as private collections. It will be on display in the museum from June 13 to September 13.
The objects displayed in the exhibition, all featuring the pansy motif, were created from the 18th century to the present day, with the largest selection datingdating from the Art Nouveau period. Among the wide varietye of exibits, particularly noteworthy are a beautifully decorated plate once used in the restaurant of the Riga Railway Station, and cylindrical vases created by one of the most prominent French Art Nouveau glass artists and manufacturers, François Théodore Legras. The collection of the museum "Riga Art Nouveau Centre" also includes a handicraft box embroidered with pansies, once used by a lady from Riga at the beginning of the 20th century.
The pansy is a symbol of love, loyalty, remembrance, and reflection in many European countries. In Roman mythology, it is associated with Cupid: according to legend, one of his arrows struck a flower instead of a person, giving it its distinctive colours. In Christianity, the pansy is associated with the Holy Trinity. In art, it is often depicted in botanical illustrations, watercolors and flower paintings from the Middle Ages to the present day. In United Kingdom, the pansy acquired a special significance during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The queen was particularly fond of the flower, which adorned both her garments and the embroidered gifts she created. William Shakespeare also mentions pansies in his plays “Hamlet” and “A Midsummer Night's Dream”. However, pansies gained widespread popularity in European gardens and parks much later, in the second half of the 19th century, and they remain beloved to this day. The exhibition features items from the collection of the museum “Riga Art Nouveau Centre”, as well as from Ģederts Elias Jelgava History and Art Museum, Gulbene Regional History and Art Museum, Jūrmala Museum, Krāslava Regional Museum, Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum, Latvian War Museum, Latvian National History Museum, Art Museum “Rīgas Birža”, Limbaži Museum, Madona Museum of Local Lore and Art, Pauls Stradiņš Museum of the History of Medicine, Preiļi Museum of History and Applied Arts, Riga Porcelain Museum, Riga History and Shipping Museum, Rundāle Palace Museum, Tukums Museum, Valka Museum of Local Lore, Valmiera Museum, Žanis Lipke Memorial, as well as from several private collections.
The exhibition “Pansies” at the museum “Riga Art Nouveau Centre” can be viewed from June 13 to September 13, 2026. The museum is open from 10:00 to 18:00 every day, except Mondays.
