Leimanis Andris

Andris Leimanis

Andris Leimanis was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1938. He arrived in Canada with his family at 27 years old.  From an early age, he displayed a talent for art and eventually worked for design agencies in Toronto and Montreal as an illustrator and creative director. In 1974, he graduated (cum laude) from Loyola College (Concordia University) in Montreal, while studying with various professors from the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (R.C.A.). In 1976, he attained a Master of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University in the state of New York. Later, he decided to fully dedicate himself to painting as an artist, establishing ties with several galleries in Montreal. He achieved remarkable success with his depictions of Montreal in sold-out exhibitions at the Bernard Desroches Gallery in Montreal, as well as solo exhibitions of urban scenes at the Kar and Kaspar galleries in Toronto. He created garden scenes for exhibitions in Boca Raton, Florida, and Carmel, California. Leimanis collaborated with many galleries in Quebec, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton, Canada. He had many solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions.