This June, the Crocker Art Museum opens a vibrant exhibition of works by Raimonds Staprans, a Latvian-born painter of landscapes, architectural elements, and still lifes with ties to California’s Bay Area figurative movement and Pop art. With more than 55 paintings on view, Full Spectrum: Paintings by Raimonds Staprans affords many opportunities to appreciate Staprans’ bold color and richly layered technique. Born and raised in Riga, Latvia, Staprans created art at a young age, and was encouraged by his parents to develop his drawing skills in the hope that they might prove useful to a career in medicine. When Russia advanced on his homeland during World War II, his family fled. In Germany, Staprans entered the Esslingen Art School, and in 1947, he immigrated to the United States. A graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle, he studied with painter Georges Le Brun and the visiting sculptor Alexander Archipenk
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