Romualds Geikins. Convergence
The “Convergence”, a personal exhibition of paintings and watercolours by Romualds Geikins will be on view in the 4th Floor Exhibition Halls of the main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art in Riga (Jaņa Rozentāla laukums 1) from 26 June to 23 August 2020.
The title of the exhibition Convergence accurately describes Romualds Geikins’ concept, to which he has been faithful throughout his long artistic career – to interpret creatively the interactions of different cultures, periods and movements to achieve their convergence within one composition. This exhibition is an overview of the formation of the artist’s typical individual style.
The early stage of his career is represented by drawings with Indian ink, pencil and felt-tip pens created during the studies in the Art Academy of Latvia, as well as watercolours, confirming the interest in the relationship between lines, form and clean colour areas. In the early 1970s, Romualds Geikins studied masterpieces of the old masters, paying special attention to the orthodox icons and Russian avant-garde artists, especially Pavel Filonov (Павел Филонов), from whom is borrowed the principle of the existence of the small particles that form the surrounding world as a one whole.
In the 1980s, Romualds Geikins created a version of his own composition, uniting many figures, separate groups of people in several plans and different angles, achieving the effect of endless flow of time. The artist works in pencil and watercolours, using multi-layer coatings and washes to get particular lightness and transparency, have tonally very close colour ratios, which are specific feature of his watercolours created in recent years.
The exhibition at the Latvian National Museum of Art introduces you to almost hundred paintings, watercolours, sketches, and miniatures, created by the artist from the mid-1960s to the present day. Some of the selected early works are on display for the first time.
About the artist
Romualds Geikins (1943) was born and raised in Daugavpils. From 1966 to 1973 he studied at the Painting Department of the Art Academy of Latvia in the specialty of scenography. However, Romualds Geikins has consistently expressed himself in painting, especially in watercolours. The artist’s previous solo exhibition at the Latvian National Museum of Art was held in 2003.
Exhibition curator:
Irēna Bužinska, Exhibition Curator, Museum of Decorative Arts and Design / Latvian National Museum of Art
