Daina Dagnija

Since 1968, Daina Dagnija has participated in exhibitions with her creative works: in the USA, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Canada. In Latvia, the artist's most important exhibitions took place at the Latvian National Museum of Art (2004, catalog), Jurmala City Museum (2012) and Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre (2015, catalog). In 2001, she returned to live in Latvia. She died on 4 December 2019 at the age of 82.

Daina Dagnija has devoted her whole life to art. In 2018, when "MuseumLV" opened her personal exhibition "Life for art. Art for life", the artist said that even at the age of 81 she still painted almost every day.

In 1974, Dagnija won the award of the General Kārlis Goppers fund for the series of large-format paintings "Latvian Life". She repeatedly received the New Jersey state scholarship in painting: in 1980 for the series of three large-format paintings "Return to Childhood", in 1985 for the completion of the series of paintings "Woman and Cow".

Daina Dagnija was born in the family of a Latvian army officer, in 1944 she fled first to Germany and later moved to the USA. Daina Dagnija learned the basics of visual art at the Art Students League of New York (New York, USA, 1954-1956). Studied at the School of Arts and Crafts (now the College for Creative Studies, Detroit, USA, 1956-1959), the Shawnar Institute (now the California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles, USA, 1960). The artist taught art pedagogy at the Art School (Demarest, USA, 1995-2001). Member of the Artists Union of Latvia since 1996.

Daina Dagnija (Latvian: Daina Dagnija) (15 March 1937 – 4 December 2019) was a Latvian painter, textile artist and teacher. She was a significant personality in the context of both Latvian and world visual art, as the artist spent part of her creative life in the USA.