Voldemārs Matvejs (1877–1914) was a Latvian artist and art theorist. Despite dying in 1914, he was to have a significant impact on the development of Soviet art. Nikolay Punin remarked: "If he had not died so early he would have been the first among us: he knew what was necessary for art better than the others: he saw and understood better than the rest."[1] He was one of the founders of the Union of Youth in 1908.
He had a particular interest in African art and his writing in this area has been compared with that of Carl Einstein.[1]
See main article: article and Faktura. Matvejs was the art theorist who pioneered the concept of Faktura.[2]