Battle of Rudau

Having taken up teaching, Ušinskas trained a new generation of artists in monumental art and scenography. One of his most talented students, Kazys Varnelis (1917–2010), also turned to the history of art for inspiration in his early work in the 1930s. For example, his Battle of Rudau is a stylised classic battle scene. The works by Ušinskas and Varnelis illustrate another aspect of Lithuanian art, where emotionality and sensitivity to nature give way to a logical decorativeness that is associated more often with urban than rural culture.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: "1918-1945 / Kaunas-Vilnius", 27 August 2020 – 21 August 2021, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė; ‘The Collectible Collector. Artworks of Kazys Varnelis from private collections in Lithuania', 17 May 2023 – 29 October 2023, Kazys Varnelis House-Museum, Vilnius (curator Gabrielė Paškevičiūtė).

Having taken up teaching, Ušinskas trained a new generation of artists in monumental art and scenography. One of his most talented students, Kazys Varnelis (1917–2010), also turned to the history of art for inspiration in his early work in the 1930s. For example, his Battle of Rudau is a stylised classic battle scene. The works by Ušinskas and Varnelis illustrate another aspect of Lithuanian art, where emotionality and sensitivity to nature give way to a logical decorativeness that is associated more often with urban than rural culture.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: "1918-1945 / Kaunas-Vilnius", 27 August 2020 – 21 August 2021, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė; ‘The Collectible Collector. Artworks of Kazys Varnelis from private collections in Lithuania', 17 May 2023 – 29 October 2023, Kazys Varnelis House-Museum, Vilnius (curator Gabrielė Paškevičiūtė).