Niklāvs Strunke (1894–1966) was a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n painter and graphic artist. One of the most original artists of the Latvian

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

generation, he also worked in

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

and

scenography Scenography is the practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography can be defined as the combination of technological and material stagecrafts to represent, enact, and produce a sense of plac ...

. He wrote about art. (also under the pseudonym Palmenu Klavs). Born 6 October 1894 in

Gostynin Gostynin is a town in central Poland with 19,414 inhabitants (2004). It is the capital of Gostynin County in the Masovian Voivodship. History Gostynin has a long and rich history, which dates back to the early Middle Ages. In the 6th century, a ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, to the family of a non-commissioned officer in the army of the

. In 1903 he moved to

Valmiera Valmiera () is the second largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020, it was at 24,879. It is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city, and ...

to live with his father's sister, and in 1909 he graduated from Liepiņš Progymnasium there. He moved to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

with his father, and studied 1909–11 at the school of the

Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts The Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts (Russian: Императорское общество поощрения художеств (ОПХ)) was an organization devoted to promoting the arts that existed in Saint Petersburg from ...

under Nikolai Roerich and

Ivan Bilibin Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (, ; – 7 February 1942) was a Russian illustrator and stage designer who took part in the '' Mir iskusstva'' ("World of Art"), contributed to the Ballets Russes, co-founded the Union of Russian Artists, and from 1937 ...

Biography

In 1910, he trained at the Jan Zionglinsky Studio and Mikhail Bernstein Art Studio (1911–1913) for a few months, both of which belonged to the “left-wing Cubist trend.” He earned a master of painting, made illustrations for A. Lāčs, began to illustrate

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

, and returned to St. Petersburg, where he studied at the Sherwood and Bernstein Art Studio in 1914. Strunke studied graphic techniques with Vasily Matt in the workshop of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1915.

First World War

In 1915 Strunke volunteered for the Equestrian Intelligence Division of the 6th Latvian Rifle Regiment. In 1917, Strunke was in

Cēsis Cēsis (; (, , , ) is a town in Latvia located in the northern part of the Central Vidzeme Upland. Cēsis is on the Gauja River valley, and is built on a series of ridges above the river, overlooking the woods below. Cēsis was selected to b ...

, then in

Valka Valka (; ) is a town and municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the border with Estonia along both banks of the river Pedele. Valka and the Estonian town Valga are twins, separated by the Estonian/Latvian border but using the slogan " ...

, and returned to St. Petersburg. From there he arrived in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

with foreign documents. After founding the Latvian SPR at the beginning of 1919, he returned to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, where he worked as a

graphic art A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional graphics, i.e. produced on a flat surface,Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, and

Capri Capri ( , ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...

. Strunke lived in Italy until July 1925. In 1926, he went to Italy for the second time, lived in Florence, and produced watercolors, oil paintings, and illustrations for fairy tales. In 1933, Strunk was awarded the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

(Level IV Officer). In 1940, he organized his own 25th-anniversary retrospective exhibition.

World War II

In 1944, Niklāvs Strunke fled to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. He held solo exhibitions in

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitan ...

(1945),

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

(1947) and

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

(1948). He participated in the exhibition of Estonian and Latvian artists in Stockholm (1946) and in the exhibition of the Hamburg Song Festival (1964).

Creative work

In addition to the impressions of Cubism and Constructivism, Strunke was interested in

Italian art Since ancient times, the Italian peninsula has been home to diverse civilizations: the Greeks in the south, the Etruscans in the centre, and the Celts in the north. The numerous Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date back as far as 8,000 BC. Rich a ...

and Latvian

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

. He participated in the exhibitions of the Riga Artists' Group. He painted still lifes, portraits, and landscapes, and made a significant contribution to book graphics: *

Anna Brigadere Anna Brigadere (October 1, 1861, in Tērvete – June 25, 1933, in Tērvete) was a writer, playwright and poet from Latvia. Biography Her first story was published in 1896. In 1897, she turned her focus exclusively to literary work, and her f ...

's "Son of Power" in 1923, * "Black Tales" in 1925, * '' Man Entering a Room'', 1927, * "Hedgehog Coat" in 1927, * A. Chuck's "Umurkumurs" in 1932, Between 1920 and 1944, Strunke drew the covers of more than 700 books, illustrated about 30 novels, poetry or fairy tales, worked as a decorator at the National Theater, the Workers' Theater, the National Opera (scenery for about 40 performances), and worked in applied art (glass paintings). In Riga and Sigulda, about 50 drawings for porcelain painting for the J. Jessen porcelain factory in Riga. He wrote critiques and reflections on art. Solo exhibitions in Stockholm were held in 1927, 1952 and 1962. Niklāvs Strunke died October 13, 1966, in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Bibliography

*Dzintra Andrušaite. Niklavs Strunke. ''Versija par Palmēnu Klāvu'' (Version of the Palmenian Clave). - Valters and Rapa: Riga, 2002., - 227 pages, *''Māksla un arhitektūra biogrāfijās'', (Art and architecture in biographies). / red. A. Vanaga - Riga, 2000 - 3 vol. *Siliņš J. ''Latvijas māksla 1915—1940'', (Latvian Art 1915—1940). - Stockholm, 1988 - Vol. *''Latviešu futūrists un tradīciju noliedzējs Niklāvs Strunke — jaunatklātās teorētisko uzskatu liecības (Latvian Futurist and anti-traditionalist Niklāvs Strunke — newly discovered theoretical statements) // Materiāli par latviešu un cittautu kultūru LatvijāLatvian Futurist and anti-traditionalist Niklāvs Strunke - newly discovered theoretical statements // Materials on Latvian and non-Latvian culture in Latvia / Ed. by Inguna Daukste-Silasproģe. - Science: Riga, 2003. - P. 101—109. * Ginta Gerharde-Upeniece,
Originality in Latvian Art: Between Confirmation and Destruction
'. The Routledge Companion to Expressionism in a Transnational Context. August 2018. * Aija Brasliņa.International Yearbook of Futurism Studies. Volume 1: Issue 1
Modernists in Berlin and Rome in the 1920s: Encounters with secondo futurismo
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110237771.231. 16 Nov 2011, De Gruyter * Suzanne Pourchier-Plasseraud. Arts and a Nation: The Role of Visual Arts and Artists in the Making of the Latvian Identity, 1905–1940. On the Boundary of Two Worlds. BRILL, 2015.

References