One of the most original artists of the Latvian modernist generation, he also worked in stained glass and scenography.

He moved to St. Petersburg with his father, and studied 1909–11 at the school of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts under Nikolai Roerich and Ivan Bilibin.

Strunke studied graphic techniques with Vasily Matt in the workshop of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1915.

In 1915 Strunke volunteered for the Equestrian Intelligence Division of the 6th Latvian Rifle Regiment.

In 1926, he went to Italy for the second time, lived in Florence, and produced watercolors, oil paintings, and illustrations for fairy tales.

He painted still lifes, portraits, and landscapes, and made a significant contribution to book graphics:[citation needed] Between 1920 and 1944, Strunke drew the covers of more than 700 books, illustrated about 30 novels, poetry or fairy tales, worked as a decorator at the National Theater, the Workers' Theater, the National Opera (scenery for about 40 performances), and worked in applied art (glass paintings).