Konstantin Rodko

Konstantin Rodko August 24 1908 - September 30 1995. He was born in Latvia. Konstantin's parents were Belarus and Estonian. He married his first wife in Latvia and had 4 children. During the war they had lived in Germany until they were able to leave from Bremerhaven on August 19th 1950 on the USS General Harry Taylor, and arrived in New york on August 23 1950. It was in America he truly did his paintings and sold them on the streets of New York. Konstantin lived in Brooklyn with his children and then divorced his first wife and remarried a woman by the name of Kate Dennison. She too was a wonderful painter and sold her works with Konstantin.

They moved to Sea Cliff, Long Island, a close neighbor to Glen Cove. There he lived on the second floor of a Russian school. His second wife did many miniature paintings and Konstantin painted his best works here. He would sell and give paintings as gifts to his four children. He also loved to play and listen to Russian gypsy music and folk music, paint Russian scenes and speak Russian, which is why many thought he was Russian. He played many instruments, and Kate was also a wonderful tailor and loved her cats, those were her babies, she never had children with Konstantin, she adopted his children as her own. He loved having his family over, and his grandchildren. Konstantin had seven grandchildren and had two great-grandchildren. Toward the end of the 1980's Konstantin moved to Brentwood, Long Island until Kate's death in 1984, when she had a stoke that led to her death.

Konstantin then moved to Glen Cove, Long Island, where he met his third wife in the house she owned and he rented the upstairs apartment. It was that home in a small basement that his last art studio existed. He became sick and also had a stroke which led to his death in 1995.

Unfortunately, the paintings that he left in the home were sold off and never given to his children but works are in private collections with his family. He is survived by two daughters that live in New England and two sons that live in Florida. His grandchildren live in New England, Westchester, New York, Queens, New York, Poughkeepsie, New York, Hudson New York and Long Island. His great-grand children live in Hudson, New York and Long Island, New York.

External links

* [http://www.bridgeman.co.uk/search/s_results.asp?search=Rodko%2C+Konstantine&stype=all&order=5&page=&view=2 Bridgeman Art Library]