Endel Ruberg

The People

Endel Ruberg

← People of the Society · on record 1954–1965

The Society’s records

Everything the Society’s own records say of Endel Ruberg: the offices held, the standings conferred, and the awards won. Where the records are silent, so is this part of the page.

In memoriam · 29 December 1989, Stockholm, Sweden, aged 72, while on holiday

Among the most prolific winners the Society's competitions ever produced, with sixteen awards in the Society's records from 1954 into the 1970s. In February 1953 he and John Opariek were the Montreal exhibitors in the Society's display at the 1st Canadian International Hobby Show in Toronto. He took First Prize for Best Original Entry at the 1954 C.N.E. (apparently the first time a leathercraftsman had won it) and in 1955 won “Tooled or Carved” plus Honorable Mention in Best Design and Best Original Entry. The two-page obituary (Fall 1989, pp. 2–3) is by Rene Hackstetter and names him beside Don MacKinnon, Bob Muma, Edith Roscoe, Clarice Packham and the Larmours as one of the Society's founding pillars. The date and place are from Wikipedia, citing Library and Archives Canada's Alfred Kurlents fonds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endel_Ruberg, accessed 20 October 2026).

From Fall 1989; and Spring 1953, page 7.

Certification

Associate of the CSCL 1954
Fellow of the CSCL 1955

Served the Society as

C.N.E. Demonstrator 1962

Awards

British American Oil Company Special Award 1959
Canadian Handicrafts Guild Competition 1958
Canadian Handicrafts Guild Competition First Prize 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
Canadian Handicrafts Guild Competition Honourable Mention 1955, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964
Canadian Handicrafts Guild Golden Anniversary Exhibition First Prize 1956
Canadian National Exhibition, Canadian Handicrafts Guild Section 1954
International Assembly Salon Exhibit 1961
Second CNE Hobby and Homecraft Show Public Preference Poll, Small Articles, 4th place 1954

Demonstrations given

Demonstrating throughout the Exhibition 1957
CSCL Exhibition, 1957
From Autumn 1957, page 5.

Where this comes from

Life and work

From Rene Hackstetter's obituary in the Society's newsletter. Other lines come from the sources named under each.

Background: Born in Virumaa, Estonia, in 1917. Seen at a Swedish Consulate arts exhibition in 1951, he was invited to Canada through a contact of the Birks family, and arrived in Montreal in March 1951.
From Fall 1989, page 2.; Born 21 May 1917 in Sõmeru Parish, Lääne-Viru County (historic Virumaa), Estonia.
From Wikipedia, 'Endel Ruberg' (infobox; cites the Art Museum of Estonia), accessed 20 October 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endel_Ruberg.; During the Second World War he joined the Forest Brothers against the Soviet occupation, fled to Finland in 1941 and fought in the Continuation War with the Estonian volunteers of Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 (the “soomepoisid”); he was severely wounded in 1942, returned to fight in Estonia in August 1944, escaped by boat to Sweden in September 1944, and emigrated from Sweden to Canada in 1951.
From Wikipedia, 'Endel Ruberg', accessed 20 October 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endel_Ruberg.
Work: He worked in occupational therapy in Finland, then in leathercraft in Umeå, Sweden, for the store Nordiska Kompaniet. Within a week of reaching Montreal he was working on commissions for Birks, and his work (repoussé in leather, with dyes of his own formulation) went to Ottawa Birks for presentation to heads of government and industry: a guest book for Emperor Hirohito's delegation, a picture frame for Dwight D. Eisenhower, a presentation book for Richard Nixon, a box and gold-tooled folder for Vincent Massey.
From Fall 1989, page 2.; His leather work ‘Omal Maal’ (1978) shows the Tallinn skyline; the reverse carries an inscription from the closing verses of canto XVI of the Estonian epic Kalevipoeg.
From Wikipedia, 'Endel Ruberg', accessed 20 October 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endel_Ruberg.
Study: He trained at the Ateneum in Helsinki, and in sculpture and woodcarving.
From Fall 1989, page 2.
Teaching: He taught leathercraft at the Finnish-Canadian Centre until his death.
From Fall 1989, page 2.; He also volunteered for three years with blind and disabled children, and guided their teachers, at the Mackay Centre School, Montreal, and worked with young people in scouting and at camps, including the Estonian camp Jõekääru, teaching painting and leatherwork.
From Wikipedia, 'Endel Ruberg'; Estonian World Review, 2006, accessed 20 October 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endel_Ruberg.
Art: He developed his own high-relief leather technique: a home-made paste on the back of the leather supports the face while it is wrinkled, twisted and squeezed into three-dimensional forms. He also worked in low relief with traditional tooling.
From Wikipedia, 'Endel Ruberg' (citing the 1977 film 'Ruberg'), accessed 20 October 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endel_Ruberg.; He also invented a ‘frozen watercolour’ method (akvarelli külmutustehnika): painting outdoors in winter so the drying paint crystallises into frost patterns. He worked mostly outdoors in the forests of the Laurentian Mountains, Quebec.
From Wikipedia, 'Endel Ruberg' (citing a Vaba Eestlane interview, 13 March 1979), accessed 20 October 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endel_Ruberg.; A signed leather-on-board cityscape inscribed ‘E. Ruberg 73’ (image 6 x 18½ in) sold as lot 39 in a MaxSold online auction (Burlington, Ont.) for $65.
From MaxSold auction listing, n.d., accessed 20 October 2026, https://maxsold.com/listing/5666650/1973-endel-ruberg-leather-art-cityscape-signed?offset=0.; The Toronto Estonian Visual Artists' Gallery sells his painted-leather works (e.g. ‘Three Pines’, 6.5 x 11 in). Its biography says he meant to join the Estonian artists' association EKKT and was due to contact it on 12 January 1990, after his December 1989 trip to Sweden.
From TEVAG product page and biography, n.d., accessed 20 October 2026, https://www.tevag.ca/product/three-pines/.
Exhibitions: His gallery credits him with more than 40 solo shows in Canada, the United States and the Nordic countries, including ESTO '72, '76, '80, '84 and '88; work shown at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Avio Gallery, Washington, D.C.; and more than 50 awards for leatherwork.
From Toronto Estonian Visual Artists' Gallery (TEVAG), artist biography, n.d., accessed 20 October 2026, https://www.tevag.ca/team/endel-ruberg/.; A later exhibition of his art at Eesti Kodu (Estonian House, Toronto) filled the hall. The master of ceremonies gave his life history, and Ilmar Marten, who had served with him in Finnish army reconnaissance, gave the closing prayer.
From Eesti Elu, 'Endel Ruberg art show at Eesti Kodu fills the hall with art and people', c. 2014, https://eestielu.ca/endel-ruberg-art-show-at-eesti-kodu-fills-the-hall-with-art-and-people/.
Collections: The Art Museum of Estonia (Eesti Kunstimuuseum) lists him in its digital collection and holds his leather work ‘Võitlus idatuulega’ (roughly ‘Struggle with the East Wind’).
From Eesti Kunstimuuseum Digitaalkogu, via Wikipedia's references, accessed 20 October 2026, http://digikogu.ekm.ee/oid-7326.; He is named in the Alfred Kurlents fonds (textual and sound records) at Library and Archives Canada.
From Library and Archives Canada, via Wikipedia's references, accessed 20 October 2026, http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/ourl/res.php?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_tim=2012-08-06T18%3A02%3A04Z&url_ctx_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=103261&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fcollectionscanada.gc.ca%3Apam&lang=eng.
Honours: Queen Elizabeth II medal, 1976, for contributions to culture.
From Toronto Estonian Visual Artists' Gallery (TEVAG), artist biography, accessed 20 October 2026, https://www.tevag.ca/team/endel-ruberg/.; His gallery's biography also lists the Estonian Cultural Award in Canada (1972) and a best-watercolour prize at ESTO '76.
From Toronto Estonian Visual Artists' Gallery (TEVAG), artist biography, n.d., accessed 20 October 2026, https://www.tevag.ca/team/endel-ruberg/.
In the press: He was the subject of Alar Kivilo's documentary film 'Ruberg' (1977), reviewed by Natalie Edwards in Cinema Canada no. 42 (November 1977), pp. 41–42; a later DVD release was reviewed in Estonian World Review (2006); Library and Archives Canada catalogues the film.
From Cinema Canada no. 42 (November 1977), via Wikipedia's references, http://cinemacanada.athabascau.ca/index.php/cinema/article/view/4564/4594.; Profiled by Linda Richardson, ‘Ruberg's Work Inspired by Schweitzer’, The Sault Star (Sault Ste. Marie), 19 January 1971, p. 13.
From The Sault Star, 19 January 1971, p. 13 (clipping on Newspapers.com, via Wikipedia's references), https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sault-star-endel-ruberg-1917-1989/157918538/.; A newspaper of 5 September 1967 reported that his Boy Scout troop was barred from exhibiting at Expo 67 because he had handed out anti-Soviet material.
From Newspaper page of 5 September 1967, Google News Archive, via Wikipedia's references, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lp8tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PKAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7235%2C778452.; The Estonian-language press covered him repeatedly: Vaba Eestlane (Toronto) reported his Toronto art exhibition (1 March 1977), his new work (13 March 1979), his appearance as the folk hero Kalevipoeg at games (15 September 1981) and his one-man ‘Freedom for Estonia’ campaign at the 1985 Canadian Ski Marathon (14 February 1985); Meie Elu interviewed him on 9 March 1972, p. 7.
From Vaba Eestlane and Meie Elu, via the Multicultural Canada / Connecting Canadians archives (Wikipedia's references), https://web.archive.org/web/20160304202038/http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca/node/687486.

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