Ivars Hirà ¡s (1931âÂÂ1989) was a Latvian-born American painter.
Hirà ¡s was born in Riga, into an extremely wealthy Latvian family of Roberts Hirà ¡s, a textile mill owner. Contrary to his father's wishes that he become a businessman, Hirà ¡s pursued a career in art. The family left Latvia in the late 1930s and moved to Sweden, before emigrating to the United States. There Hirà ¡s graduated with a Masters from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1954.
He continued his studies at the California College of the Arts and Crafts, later moving 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 (San Francisco) 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 decorations or ornaments.
Hirà ¡s died in 1989 from complications related to alcoholism. With the revival of modernist aesthetics, Hirà ¡s' art has received renewed interest from scholars.
(in others as well as many private collections)