Approaching spring
| Author: | Jonas Vaitys (1903–1963) |
Jonas Vaitys was a painter, teacher and administrator in art institutions. He was born in Kaunas on 6 October 1903. During the First World War, he and his parents lived in Bryansk in Russia, and returned to Kaunas in 1918. He attended art school in Kaunas between 1922 and 1928, and graduated from its General Artistic Education section. He was a member of the Association of Independent Artists and participated in its exhibitions. From 1929, he worked as a teacher at the Gymnasium in Panevėžys, and at the Teacher Training College. He moved back to Kaunas in 1940. He completed his painting studies in 1944 by taking an equivalency examination at Vilnius Academy of Art. He was deputy director of Kaunas Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts from 1944, and from 1946 to 1951 he was its director. In 1951, Vaitys was charged with political indifference, formalism, and the non-application of principles of realism in teaching, and was dismissed from his post. The same year, after the merger of Vilnius and Kaunas art institutes, he was prohibited from working in higher art schools. Instead, he worked as a lecturer at Kaunas Polytechnic Institute. He was elected chairman of the board of the Kaunas Division of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association in 1956. He died on 21 August 1963 in Kaunas.
Source: Valiunas Ellex (LAWIN until 2015) art album: THE WORLD OF LANDSCAPES II (2013). Compiler and author Nijolė Tumėnienė.
Jonas Vaitys was a painter, teacher and administrator in art institutions. He was born in Kaunas on 6 October 1903. During the First World War, he and his parents lived in Bryansk in Russia, and returned to Kaunas in 1918. He attended art school in Kaunas between 1922 and 1928, and graduated from its General Artistic Education section. He was a member of the Association of Independent Artists and participated in its exhibitions. From 1929, he worked as a teacher at the Gymnasium in Panevėžys, and at the Teacher Training College. He moved back to Kaunas in 1940. He completed his painting studies in 1944 by taking an equivalency examination at Vilnius Academy of Art. He was deputy director of Kaunas Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts from 1944, and from 1946 to 1951 he was its director. In 1951, Vaitys was charged with political indifference, formalism, and the non-application of principles of realism in teaching, and was dismissed from his post. The same year, after the merger of Vilnius and Kaunas art institutes, he was prohibited from working in higher art schools. Instead, he worked as a lecturer at Kaunas Polytechnic Institute. He was elected chairman of the board of the Kaunas Division of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association in 1956. He died on 21 August 1963 in Kaunas.
Source: Valiunas Ellex (LAWIN until 2015) art album: THE WORLD OF LANDSCAPES II (2013). Compiler and author Nijolė Tumėnienė.
