EDUARDS KALNIŅŠ

Exhibition EDUARDS KALNIŅŠ 120

21.11.2024.-4.01.2025.

In honor of the 120th anniversary of the legendary Latvian painter Eduards Kalniņš, an ambitious album was published by DAUGAVA Gallery. It includes author's paintings, photos from the family archive and Kalniņš' own photographs. The album also contains the essay "Close to the Wind" by the writer and journalist Jānis Melbārzds, which was created in 1984 as a portrait of Eduards Kalniņš. Anda Treija, the compiler of the album, says that "when thinking about Kalniņš, everything falls under one magical word – painting, because he looked at life, the world and the sea as a painter, as an artist.”

As part of this event, an exhibition was created in the gallery, which serves as an extension of the newly published book. This will allow you to get acquainted not only with specially selected paintings by Kalniņš, but also with photographs that are captured by him and forms the basic structure of this exhibition. Through the black-and-white shots, we can see both scenes from Kaugurciems and picturesque views from Italian cities; to greet Venetian gondoliers, Kalniņš' first wife, pianist Mirdza Puriņa, posing among Sicilian cacti, and Niklāvs Strunke, while plein air painting on Kauguri beach.

Eduards Kalniņš' granddaughter Kristīne Boronovska, who has researched this part of his creative mandate – photography, says: “[..] already in his student years, continuing his observations, Kalniņš often took a camera in his hand. The interest in photography was really serious. The artist has left behind a large photo archive, which was created over several decades. But what seems even more interesting is the fact that these photo materials have never been available to the wider public. The artist has treated his passion with scrupulous reverence - cataloging the photos and recording them in notes.”

Eduards Kalniņš (1904–1988) is one of the brightest Latvian marinists and long-term pedagogues of the Painting Department of the Latvian Academy of Arts, who left a significant impression on the future generation of artists. In 1931, he graduated from the Vilhelms Purvītis Master Workshop of Landscape Painting at the Academy of Arts. Kalniņš is fond of landscape and still life painting, paying special attention to the life of fishermen and seafaring. Also, having won international scholarships, he painted a lot in Italy, China and other parts of the world. His works have been exhibited in Europe, USA, Canada, as well as in Japan.

The design author of the more than 300-page album "EDUARDS KALNIŅŠ 120" is Agata Muze. The album can be purchased at DAUGAVA gallery. Price: 40 EUR

Eduards Kalniņš. Still Life. Oysters. 1936. Oil, canvas. 72 x 61. Tukums Museum Collection
Eduards Kalniņš. In The Plain Air. 1936. Oil, canvas. 43,8 x 69,5
Eduards Kalniņš. Mirdza.1936. Oil, canvas. 40 x 30,5
Eduards Kalniņš. Latvian Fishermen in The Atlantic. 1957. 15,8 x 21,2
Eduards Kalniņš. Meditation by the Cactus. 1936.Canvas, oil. 60,5 x 50,2 .
Eduards Kalniņš. Winter by the Sea. 1940. Canvas, oil. 65 x 81
Eduards Kalniņš. Ships II. 1970s. Cardboard, oil. 16 x 21
Eduards Kalniņš. Ships I. 1970s. Cardboard, oil. 16 x 21
Eduards. Kalniņš. Ships III. 1970s. Cardboard, oil. 15 x 20
Fishermen in Palermo. 1936. Archival inkjet print. 70 x 50
Sicily. 1936. Archival inkjet print. 50 x 70
A Sea Horse in the Fishing Village. The end of 1920’s. Archival inkjet print. 50 x 70
Venice. 1936. Archival inkjet print. 50 x 70
Niklāvs Stunke in Kauguro\i. 1930’s. Archival inkjet print. 70 x 50
Venetian Gondoliers. 1936. Archival inkjet print. 70 x 50
Palermo. 1936. Archival inkjet print. 140 x 100
Kaugurciems’ Everyday Life. The end of 1920’s. Archival inkjet print. 50 x 70
Atlantic Fishermen. 1950’s. Archival inkjet print. 50 x 70