Mārtiņš Krūmiņš
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Mārtiņš Krūmiņš (March 2, 1900 – 1992) was a Latvian-American
Early life
Krūmiņš was born in 1900 in Riga, Latvia. His father owned rental cottages along the Baltic Sea and engaged in various forms of business. Mārtiņš' childhood memories of the seashore, the cloudy northern days, and the boats and work of local fishermen influenced his entire life and work.[1]
Krūmiņš attended a traditional elementary school in Riga, and when the First World War broke out the family moved to the provincial town of Valmiera to escape the advancing front. As the front again approached he moved to Valka in Northeast Latvia, and when living conditions deteriorated there he moved to Irkutsk in Siberia to live with his half sisters and their husbands. Krūmiņš graduated from the Irkutsk Commercial School but as the communist regime came closer and civil ware broke out between the Red and White Armies, a Latvian regiment was formed under the protection of the Allied forces which he joined. The regiment was ordered to Siberia, which led Krūmiņš to exotic places, different cultures, and ports in China, Korea, India, the Suez, the Mediterranean, and North Atlantic.[1]
Years of art studies, 1929–1942
Krumiņš was influenced by the Russian emigre painter,
As a refugee in Germany, 1944–1949
On June 14, 1941, the Soviets deported thousands and thousands of people to Siberia. When the Germans came in, the German gendarmes were arresting people on the street. In October 1944 Krūmiņš took his roll of canvases and sailed from
Mārtiņš Krūmiņš took part in exhibitions organized by the International Refugee Organization in Amsterdam, The Hague and Paris and also taught at the Latvian University Extension in Augsburg. In 1950 he sailed for the United States.[1]
In the United States, 1950–1992
In 1950 Krūmiņš arrived in New York and began a difficult process of adjusting to life in the United States. He did not speak English and now had to secure a job to earn a living and to continue his creative work. Compared to the poor quality of artist's materials available in the refugee camp, the canvases and oil paints available in the United States benefited the quality of his work. He passed the examinations in architectural drawing and worked until his retirement for a company in Elizabeth, New Jersey which, incidentally, has a collection of his paintings at their headquarters in Pennsylvania.[1]
Krūmiņš has had many individual exhibits of his work throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Sweden, and Latvia. His work has been exhibited in many joint exhibits with other Latvian artists. Some of these were organized by the American-Latvian Association Culture Fund and the New York Latvian Artists Group. He was also a friend of Latvian-American Artist Lucia Peka, who also lived in New Jersey.[1]
Gallery
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Winter Evening (Lat. Ziemas vakars) 1945
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Early Morning Before Fishing (Lat. Ziemas vakars) 1945
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Belmar Beach (Lat. Belmaras pludmalē) 1953
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Stacks of Bean Stalks (Lat. Pupu statiņi) 1957
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The Peat Digger (Lat. Kūdras racējs) 1966
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Clearing in Winter (Lat. Izcirtums ziemā) 1967
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The Autumn Mood (Lat. Vakara noskaņā) 1978
References
Biography
- Jānis Silin̦š, 1980: Mārtiņš Krūmiņš. New York: Latvian Humanities and Social Science Association
External links
- Website for Mārtiņš Krūmiņš by his niece, Daina Krūmiņš
- Latvian Artists during Wartime
- The Center for Latvian Diaspora Art (Diasporas Makslas Centrs)
- See the "Art in Exile" chapter of The Visual Arts in Latvia at the Latvian Institute
- Examine the history of the American Latvian Artists Association (ALMA)