Ivars Hirss


Ivars Hirss was a Latvian-born American painter.

Life and work

Hirss was born in Riga, into an extremely wealthy Latvian family. Contrary to his father's wishes that he become a businessman, Hirss pursued a career in art. He eventually moved to San Francisco, where, by the early 1960s he had made a name for himself in graphics, as well as within the greater San Francisco art community. He had several successful exhibits, including one at the Triangle Gallery in 1962 and another in 1967 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work often included a bright primary color upon which other colors were then superimposed. It also often included Latvian decoration or ornament. Hirss died in 1989 from complications related to alcoholism. With the revival of modernist aesthetics, Hirss' art has received renewed interest from scholars.

Exhibitions