within the academic canons of realism and was even considered despotic while his school was criticized for being too academic and lacking improvisation. In 1932 Tilbergs' class in Academia was taken over by Gederts Eliass. In 1936 he painted a new altar for the historic Sigulda church. Tilbergs return to the Academia in the post-World War II Soviet Latvia and remained a professor there from 1947 to 1957. Recognition Tilbergs was widely renowned in Soviet Latvia where he was accorded the title of the People's Artist of the Latvian SSR and decorated with the Soviet Order of the Red Banner of Labour. In modern Latvia he is recognised as one of the greatest national masters of the century. In 2005 the Latvian Post issued an item of postal stationery dedicated to Tilbergs' 125th birthday. References Sources Тилберг Янис in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia 1880 births 1972 deaths Artists from Riga People from Kreis Riga Latvian sculptors Soviet painters Soviet sculptors 20th-century sculptors 20th-century Latvian painters 20th-century Latvian artists Russian military personnel of World War I People's Artists of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (visual arts) Recipients of the Order of the Three Stars Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour