Hoa Hakananai’a pakājē. Stīvens Tompsons, Ketrina Rutledža un Voldemārs Matvejs

This year is the 100th anniversary of the publication of the book The Mystery of Easter Island: The Story of an Expedition by British traveller and ethnographer Katherine Routledge. However, the aim of this article is to draw attention to her contemporary, Latvian artist and theoretician Voldemārs Matvejs’ (1877–1914) study of Oceanic art Искусство острова Пасхи (The Art of Easter Island), published in Russian under the pseudonym of Vladimir Markov in St. Petersburg in January 1914 with a print run of 500 copies. Both publications feature one of the British Museum’s most popular exhibits – the photograph of Hoa Hakananai’a. Therefore, the author has gathered information on the British photographer Stephen Thompson (1831–1892) who created this image. The article also presents the first comparative analysis of both publications, emphasising common as well as different elements in both researchers’ activities, each having their own aims, interests and opportunities to familiarise themselves with the cultures of the world.