Riga Art Nouveau Museum was opened on April 23rd, 2009. It is located in the apartment where the outstanding Latvian architect Konstantīns Pēkšēns (1859 - 1928) lived until 1907.
The building was constructed in 1903 as K. Pēkšēns private house. The project for it is the work of K. Pēkšēns himself together with Eižens Laube, then a student of architecture. The building is notable for its extremely powerful dimensions and expressive silhouette. The ornamental reliefs, craftily incorporated in the architectonic shape, feature stylized motifs from the local flora and fauna - fir needles and cones and squirrels. The building has a spiral staircase with ornamental ceiling paintings, quite possibly sketched by the prominent Latvian artist Janis Rozentāls. This Art Nouveau staircase is among the most impressive not only in Riga but also the whole of Europe.
The authentic interior of 1903 has been renovated in the museum. Investigation of the premises was started in 2007 when the original interior decoration was revealed and registered. Renovation works were done from 2008 to 2009 under the guidance of master renovator Gunita Čakare.
The current display of the museum shows the characteristic furnishings of an apartment of a Riga inhabitant in the beginning of the 20th century. The author of this interior project is the architect Liesma Markova.
In 2016 a digital exhibition will be opened in the base storey of the building.
