On October 14th first lecture of series "Born in Latvia, Made in America.” will take place
Next year marks the centennial of the multi-strand relationship between Latvia and the United States. One of the most fascinating--as well as less-known--strands of that rich relationship, is the long line of artists, photographers, architects and other artisans and craftspeople who were born in Latvia, emigrated to the US, became successful there, and left an imprint on their respective crafts, the US and the world. Explore this remarkable dimension of the Latvian-American relationship with noted journalist and historian Gordon F. Sander on Thursday, October 14th at 2:45 in Room 10 when Gordon presents the first lecture of his series "Born in Latvia, Made in America." In his talk Gordon will discuss the work of two members of the first wave of Latvian artists who emigrated to the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century, artist Mark Rothko and photographer Philip Halsman.
Bio: one of the best known English language writers and historians based in the Baltic region, Gordon is a contributor to "The New York Times," "Financial Times," and many other US and UK publications.
He also is the author of seven books, including Citizen Kekkonen, his just-published historical biography of Urho Kekkonen the long-time Finnish president who oversaw Finland during its "Soviet time," and Latvia Rising: An American in Latvia, his forthcoming "personal history" of Latvia, which has been commissioned by the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and will also feature the artists in his series.
Gordon expects to teach an expanded version of his series as a course at LAC in the spring.