What is Avvakum Art?
Avvakum Art is a large collection of original pen-and-ink drawings created by the late Felix G. Kuehn. Most are based on Eastern Christian themes dating back several centuries.
Avvakum Art is named after a 17th century Russian archpriest, Avvakum Petrovich Kondrat’ev. His complex personality exuded three exceptional and imitable qualities: moral courage, loyalty and perseverance. These values were inherent in Felix’s life and art.
About the Artist: Felix G. Kuehn
Felix G. Kuehn (February 5, 1947 - March 3, 2020) was an artist of many media, a lover of beauty and creation in many forms. From ironwork, to First Nations beadwork, to full-length historical books, to pen-and-ink drawings like those found on this site, he created fascinating designs admired across decades throughout Manitoba and across the globe.
In the 19th century, Felix’s German ancestors lived in Poland and Russia, in what is now the Ukrainian province of Volynia. This contact with that part of the world greatly influenced Felix’s historic and artistic interests.
Felix's Curriculum Vitae reads like an enviable collage of career possibilities. As an ex-farmer, ex-blacksmith, ex-apiarist, and ex-insurance salesman, Felix G. Kuehn was many characters other than a highly productive artist. Father, grandfather, husband, and friend, Felix lived most of his life in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He and his wife, Linda, existed amidst the wonderful chaos of an ever-rotating door open to visitors, conversationalists and hungry guests all hours of the day and night.
Felix is greatly missed, but his memory and his work live on. Please read some of Felix's obituaries below.
An Incomplete Reverse Chronological List of Felix G. Kuehn's Publications
While producing large amounts of artistic material, Felix also wrote historical documents, often providing the illustrations himself. A incomplete list follows.
In Progress: Departed Leaving Footprints in the Sands of Time
An attempted partial reconstruction of the memoirs of Dr. Matthew Young, V.S., written prior to his passing in June 1911. These memoirs were an autobiographical sketch of the last 30 years of his life principally based on a collection of contemporary documents as well as the personal recollections of many members of Dr. Young's family.
January 2013. 25-2-9 25-2-9
This is a history of the farm in the Pembina River Valley located on Section 25, Township 2, Range 9 West, home of four generations of Felix's family.
June 2012. A Home of Dreams Come True
Recollections of Felix's mother and father and their home in the Pembina Valley in Manitoba.
August 2006. The Ottos: Our Family Connections on Three Continents – Record, Documents, Charta and Maps pertaining to the History of the Otto Family in Pomerania, Russia and North and South America
November 1998. Lutherland, O Lutherland: A Visit to to the Towns and Villages most Closely Associated with the Life and Work of the Great Reformer
February 1991. Heels of Gold: Six Families from Kreis Rummelsberg – A Synopsis of the History of the Neumann, trapp, Geschke, Truhn, Bauschke and Warmbein Families
July 1992. A Kuehn Family Scrapbook: Records, Documents, Charts and Maps pertaining to the History of the Kuehn, Weiszshnurr, Schaeler, Hartwig, Luebeck, Trapp, Zielke, Krekel, Woltmann, Otto and Kowaleski Families in Brandenburg, Poland, Russia, Brazil, the United States of America and Canada
August 1985. A Rose on the Prairie: The Story of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Dresden, North Dakota
November 1982. “...And They Built an Altar”: The History and Heritage of the Brokenhead Lutheran Community
July 1979. Pembina Manitou 100th Anniversary and Reunion
Felix G. Kuehn was the founding president of The Boundary Commission NWMP Trail Association. Between 1989 and 1993, he researched and edited several publications for the association.
Southern Manitoba and Turtle Mountain Country, Three Weeks in Winter through Southern Manitoba
Jottings from a Buckboard, Four Hundred Miles and Three Weeks on the Trail in May 1881
An Astonishing Cavalcade, The 1874 Route of the North West Mounted Police across Manitoba
The above three volumes form a set titled Meet You on the Trail or West before the Railroad and are first-hand recollections and journals of travellers along the Boundary Commission NWMP Trail during the 1870s and 1880s. In addition, Felix wrote the following publications.
Thou Grand Old Church of England…in the Pembina Mountain Country, A Historical Synopsis with Special Reference to St. Lukes Pembina Crossing on the Boundary Commission Trail
Whither Thou Goest, The Life and Times of Rev. Andrew Gordon and his Wife, Ann Copp Gordon
‘Twas Once a Teeming Highway, Historic Sketches from along the Boundary Commission Trail