Jeremy Howard’s book Diapason: Essays on Latvian Artistic Outreach is the result of a multifaceted study devoted to processes in Latvian art history that unfold across time and space. These texts focus on individuals, events and phenomena which, whilst rooted in Latvia and the context and developments of Latvian art history, have taken on an international dimension. Howard examines the artistic parallels between Janis Rozentāls and James McNeill Whistler, the Orientalist interests of Voldemārs Matvejs (or Vladimir Markov) and their significance in the context of modernism, as well as the work of the Latvian architect in exile, Jan Miezitis, in Scotland after the Second World War. Howard’s writings address both the major narratives of art history and take a closer look at more marginalised developments and figures, such as in his essay on Friedrich Leekney – a Riga-born ornamentalist, restorer and interior designer whose creative work after the First World War spanned virtually the entire globe. Through his research, Howard juxtaposes local and regional contexts with global phenomena, offering a comparative perspective on lesser-known phenomena and thereby complementing the work of local art historians from an outsider’s viewpoint.
British art historian Dr Jeremy Howard, a lecturer in art history at the University of St Andrews, has been interested in research on Eastern and Central Europe, including the Baltic region, since the 1980s. Material on Latvia features both in the books Art Nouveau: International and National Styles in Europe (1996) and East European Art 1650–1950 (2006), as well as in numerous articles, including those written in collaboration with Latvian art historians, which became possible following the restoration of Latvia’s independence. Howard’s contribution to broadening the known boundaries of art history deserves high praise, by revealing to an English-speaking audience the cultural treasures previously hidden behind the Iron Curtain, as well as his interest in figures marginalised for various reasons, which adds new dimensions to the canon of recognised masters.