Kauno dailininkų pavasarinės kūrinių parodos katalogas [1943 : Vytauto Didžiojo kultūros muziejus] (Catalogue for the spring exhibition of Kaunas artists : [1943 : Vytautas the Great Museum of Culture])

Very good condition; front wrapper is soiled to the edges, creases across cover corners, pages detached at rusty staples are linked together by a tread, small trace of moisture on the outer bottom corner throughout the book. 

Spring Art Exhibition of Kaunas artists was held at the Vytautas the Great Museum of Culture in Kaunas in 1943. An event organized by Lithuanian Artists' Association introduced development of Lithuanian art during the Nazi occupation. German civil authorities allowed the functioning of some Lithuanian institutions necessary for the continuity of artistic life, and funded them. The activity of the Lithuanian Artists' Association was allowed as well. Two branches of the Association, based in two largest cities of Kaunas and Vilnius, coordinated the artistic activities and organized art exhibitions. Exhibitions promoted artistic activities and also provided the German authorities with an opportunity of supervising the contents and style of art works. Left-wing artists and the ones of non-Lithuanian origin were excluded from the public artistic life, many talented Jewish artists were imprisoned in Vilnius and Kaunas ghettos. There were no direct persecution of modernists mainly because widespread traditionalism in Lithuanian art of the 1940s was close to the official stylistics of the Third Reich. As in other Baltic States, Lithuanians avoided confrontation to the war time reality in their art and preferred the wait-and-see position. Visual art produced during the war did not incite any kind of armed rebellion against the occupying forces, nor did it attempt to depict the ongoing slaughtering and suffering. Many artists particularly chose to depict landscapes, some of these landscapes are still considered to be among the ‘golden heritage’ of twentieth-century Lithuanian art. Also were created some of the best and most expressive portraits, quiet still-life paintings and idyllic agricultural scenes.

Current exhibition featured 262 works in the fields of painting, graphic art and sculpture by 57 artists. Among participating artists were: Vytautas Kasiulis, Jonas Šileika, Adalbertas Staneika, Jonas Buračas, Adomas Galdikas, Rimtas Kalpokas, Alfonsas Krivickas, Zigmas Petravičius, Liudas Truikys, Leonardas Kazokas, etc. Exhibition catalog includes a list of works exhibited with indication of used technique.