A sketch for a panel on the theme of work

For many decades, this work by Stasys Ušinskas (1905–1974) gathered dust in the corner of the artist’s studio, as throughout the Soviet period, and for at least a decade afterwards, it was associated with the forcibly imposed principles of Socialist Realism, to which most people reacted strongly. As the Soviet reality is becoming more and more distant, the design of the panel is becoming more and more interesting, primarily because the power of its ideological impact gives rise to serious doubt. The coloured scenes of labour intended to present images of the Socialist reality look as unreal, artificially constructed and naïve as the monochrome allegory in the centre, which was meant to symbolise Soviet Lithuania, ‘socialist in content’ and ‘national in form’. Perhaps because of the clear ideological formality, the composition did not grow into a larger work, and did not become a stained glass or wall decoration.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius. "Free and Unfree. Lithuanian Art between 1945 and 1990", 9 September 2021 – 30 April 2022, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.

For many decades, this work by Stasys Ušinskas (1905–1974) gathered dust in the corner of the artist’s studio, as throughout the Soviet period, and for at least a decade afterwards, it was associated with the forcibly imposed principles of Socialist Realism, to which most people reacted strongly. As the Soviet reality is becoming more and more distant, the design of the panel is becoming more and more interesting, primarily because the power of its ideological impact gives rise to serious doubt. The coloured scenes of labour intended to present images of the Socialist reality look as unreal, artificially constructed and naïve as the monochrome allegory in the centre, which was meant to symbolise Soviet Lithuania, ‘socialist in content’ and ‘national in form’. Perhaps because of the clear ideological formality, the composition did not grow into a larger work, and did not become a stained glass or wall decoration.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius. "Free and Unfree. Lithuanian Art between 1945 and 1990", 9 September 2021 – 30 April 2022, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.