(One of the most impressive examples of early Art Nouveau ...)
One of the most impressive examples of early Art Nouveau can be seen at 10b Elizabetes Street. It was built in 1903. The building has an extraordinarily colourful facade. Note the composition of masks, peacocks, sculptural elements and geometrical figures, as well as the bright blue tile covering on the upper levels of the building. The facade was designed by copying and complementing drawings by two Leipzig architects, Georg Wünschmann and Hans Kozel which were first published in a collection of facade drawings in Saint Petersburg. The buildings and their splendid staircase were renovated in 2000.
1903
(It is another eclectic Eisenstein architectural masterpie...)
It is another eclectic Eisenstein architectural masterpiece. The imposing projecting risalit comprises the centerpiece of the building, with arboreal and lion motifs. The facade is divided by pilasters topped with female heads. Window moldings feature monsters keeping the inhabitants safe.
1903
1904
1904
(One of the most extravagant examples of Art Nouveau in Ri...)
One of the most extravagant examples of Art Nouveau in Riga.It has a fantastically rich ornamental facade. It was built in 1905. The building is an example of an eclectic, extremely decorative direction of the style, abundant with different constructional elements in the facade’s design. The wealth of ornamental details can be clearly appreciated on a closer look, with its combination of traditional historical forms and Art Nouveau motifs. The former private school was used as a dormitory in Soviet times. In 1993/1994 it was renovated for the needs of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. The facade was renovated, while in the interior some specific details were saved.
1905
(A truly inspired potpourri of neo-classicismLeft figure, ...)
A truly inspired potpourri of neo-classicismLeft figure, bearing victory wreath plus neo-Egyptian plus a shot of 190 proof Art Nouveau, blended well, then poured and molded to perfection. Most of the sculpture along Alberta iela is bas relief, however, Nr.2a has not one, but two, monumental figures gracing its facade. To the left, one bears aloft victory laurel wreath (since partially broken off), to the right, the other bears a victory torch (hand broken off since).
1906
Ethnicity:
His paternal grandparents were German Jews, who had converted to Orthodox Christianity, and his maternal grandparents are thought to have been Swedes.
Mikhail Osipovich Eisenstein was born in 1867 in St. Petersburg. His paternal grandparents were German Jews, who had converted to Orthodox Christianity, and his maternal grandparents are thought to have been Swedes.
He graduated from the Institute of Civic Engineering in St. Petersburg in 1893.
He was the designer of a number of Art Nouveau buildings in Riga. The irony of it is that Mikhail Eisenstein went down in history for his leisure-time activity. Architecture was just a hobby of the high-ranking official, who managed to serve in the rank of state councilor—which is equal to an army generalship—just for ten years. In Riga, he projected 19 houses, radically contradicting the style of the strict classicism accepted in those times. He built several apartment buildings for State Counsellor A. Lebedinsky, including the ones at Alberta street 4 (1904), 6 (1903) and 13, and at Elizabetes street 10b (1903).
Eisenstein preferred the Austrian and the Bavarian variations of the Jugendstil, having surpassed his teachers in décor intensity. If in southern Europe, the distinctive feature of Art Nouveau was a décor with the use of floral elements, insects, and reptiles, the center of Jugendstil esthetics was the femme fatale, seductive, and at the same time dangerous, offering the experience of pleasure at the cost of a life.
In 1909, he divorced with his wife, and the architectural muse no longer visited him. Eisenstein left architecture and never returned to it.
Despite criticism from the local architectural community, rich citizens of Riga and international diplomats promptly occupied all the Eisenstein houses. The orders from rich property developers kept coming, but Mikhail Eisenstein had left architecture forever.
He was the designer of a number of Art Nouveau buildings in Riga. He built several apartment buildings for State Counsellor A. Lebedinsky, including the ones at Alberta street 4 (1904), 6 (1903) and 13, and at Elizabetes street 10b (1903). Thanks to his Jugendstil buildings, Riga was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Albert Street, 2a, Riga, Latvia
(A truly inspired potpourri of neo-classicismLeft figure, ...)
1906The Jugendstil building. Elizabetes Street, 10b, Riga, Latvia.
(One of the most impressive examples of early Art Nouveau ...)
1903Albert Street, 8, Riga, Latvia.
(It is another eclectic Eisenstein architectural masterpie...)
1903Strelnieku Street, 4, Riga, Latvia.
(One of the most extravagant examples of Art Nouveau in Ri...)
1905Albert Street, 4, Riga, Latvia.
1904Albert Street, 13, Riga Latvia.
1904He married Julia Konetskaya who was a daughter of an influential merchant. They had a son Sergei Eisenstein, who later became a well-known Soviet film director.
