Background
Ludmila Meilerte, born Ludmila Krastiņa, was born on February 29, 1908, in rural Latvia near the town of Baldone. She was the eleventh child in a family of twelve children.
Kalpaka bulvāris 13, Centra rajons, Rīga, LV-1050, Latvia
Ludmilla completed studies at the Art Academy of Latvia in 1940.
Photo of Ludmila Meilerte
Ludmila Meilerte, born Ludmila Krastiņa, was born on February 29, 1908, in rural Latvia near the town of Baldone. She was the eleventh child in a family of twelve children.
Ludmilla attended Riga High School going on to Riga Teachers College from where she graduated and obtained employment as a Librarian. Earning a salary allowed her to commence studies at the Latvian Academy of Fine Arts (present-day Art Academy of Latvia) where her strength in figure drawing and portraiture became apparent, although later she was to major in landscape painting. An important influence was Professor Vilhelms Purvītis, founder of the academy and known as a follower of the French Impressionist School.
Her diploma work for her final year assessment was painted from a second-floor story cafe in Riga, overlooking two main thoroughfares of the city. The painting was aptly titled "The City Of Riga" and indicated an emergence of light and color that later became her hallmark. Ludmilla graduated from the academy in 1940.
Ludmilla Meilerte's progression as an artist during the late 1930s and mid-1940s saw her undertake travel studies in Greece, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Sweden, Lithuania, Italy, France, and Germany. After the Second World War, with the Soviet occupation of Latvia inevitable, Ludmilla and her husband Otto fled to Stuttgart, an American occupied part of Germany. Despite the difficulties of living in a refugee camp, Ludmilla continued to paint. With amazing determination, she organized her first solo exhibition in Stuttgart in 1946, an exhibition which received critical acclaim at the time. The difference of the color in her German period was due to the Nordic hues as distinct from the Latvian brightness.
In February 1948 Ludmilla and Otto came as assisted migrants to Australia and became bonded to the Australian Government. Ludmilla was put to work as a nurse's aide at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, still continuing to paint in her spare time. Even the hospital grounds provided inspiration and subject matter for her paintings. Later that year Ludmilla was exhibiting with the Victorian Artists Society (VAS.) together with George Bell and Margaret Alley.
Around this time Meilerts gained an important supporter, the Director of the NGV, Daryl Lindsay. In April of 1949, he encouraged Meilerts to hold her first Australian solo exhibition at Georges Gallery in Melbourne. The show was a great success. During 1950, from two separate exhibitions, the National Gallery of Victoria acquired two of her works.
As it is difficult for any but the most acclaimed Australian artists to earn a living from painting full-time, Ludmilla was obliged to continue to work at the hospital. Once the obligation had been fulfilled she left and took up machining at a clothing factory. She still found the energy to paint whenever time allowed and continued to exhibit.
Ludmilla enjoyed the Melbourne dock area and painted there in all manner of weather. She would work her way from Princess Bridge to Port Melbourne befriending many a "wharfie" and on occasions accepting their hospitality to join them for lunch.
In total Ludmilla has held twelve solo shows in Australia. Reviews have described her work as "distinctive," "vital" and of showing "the value of a fresh approach to the Australian Landscape."
Meilerte's works are represented in State Galleries of Victoria, Tasmania, and the Art Galleries of Bendigo, Portland, Gosford, Morwell, Latrobe Valley Arts Centre, as well as private galleries in Australia, Europe, and the United States.
Autumn Flowers
1976Still Life
German Landscape with Houses
1946Landscape
1979Corner of Flinders Street and Swanston Street, Melbourne
1950View to Sandridge Rail Bridge and Melbourne City
1976Ballerina
1975European landscape with cattle
1946Professor V. Purvitis
1940Torquay
1977Yarra Boats
1954Princes Bridge
1951Arum Lilies
1952Bondi Beach Scene
1957Afternoon on the Docks
Queen's Bridge, Melbourne
Ludmilla Meilerte showed that beauty and charm can be painted by modern methods. She painted in bright colors and with a masterly technique which enabled her to paint landscapes and flowers with equal facility and grace.
As well as belonging to the Victorian Artists Society, Meilerte was also a member of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors.
During her school years, Ludmilla Meilerte displayed an early talent for music and art. In later years during moments of relaxation, she would play the piano, including pieces by her favorite composer Beethoven. She also enjoyed singing.
Ludmilla had many wonderful friends amongst the Latvian Community and a group of them published a book in her name in 1987, simply called "Meilerts."
Quotes from others about the person
"The work of Ludmilla Meilerts is a celebration of life. It is a statement of joy in color and an aesthetic involvement in "The Floating World" of contemporary visual experience which to the end of the artist's active life shows no diminution of a zest one usually associates only with youth." - William Dargie
In 1940 Ludmila married Otto Meilerte, an economist with an interest in the arts.