Born into an artistic family on 20 September 1925, to a painter father, and a sculptor mother, Džemma Skulme inherited that talent, blossoming into an exceptional painter who helped define Latvian national identity. It was in the 1960s that she began to incorporate defiant symbolism into her work, during a time when Latvia was fully controlled by the Soviet Union.

Over time, she focused her bold, colourful art on a triad of elements – the folk maiden, the caryatid, and the princess – and the female spirit permeated her work. She worked in oil, acrylic and watercolour, often building texture, and her style was very distinctive, exemplified by this new coin, which takes a section of a larger work called ‘Dialogue’. Her style is evident here, and the shaped edge is a clever addition. The obverse apes brushstrokes with paint, enhanced with variations to a matte finish, and to the textured relief. Džemma Skulm’s signature adorns the top. Artist Juris Petraškevičs has done a fine job.

Skulme is far from the easiest artist to find out information on, particularly with images of her work (even her Wikipedia page is absent examples), despite a long and storied career, so it’s great to see her distinctive work showcased on a coin as well produced as this one. It’s a 27 gram silver coin with a mintage of 2,500 pieces, and went on sale yesterday at the link in our yellow button below.