Circus rehearsal (plafond)

Stasys Ušinskas (1905–1974) must have begun designing the plafond Circus rehearsal in the late 1930s when he lived and worked in New York, at approximately the same time that he was painting the decorative composition Music (1938) for a Broadway theatre. Some of the characters in the preliminary drawings that were made for it were transferred to the new plafond. Both Music and Circus rehearsal are important examples of Art Deco, proving that Ušinskas was familiar with both modern art and the Classical heritage, or more precisely, with illusionary painting of 17th-century Italian Baroque. The plafond Circus rehearsal is sometimes dated to 1945, due to its stylistic association with the composition A Midsummer night’s dream (1946), but the artist probably finished the work before 1940, and during and after the war he altered separate parts of it.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

The work and teaching activities of Stasys Ušinskas (1905–1974) were a major impetus to the development of Lithuanian art. An alumnus of Kaunas Art School, Ušinskas returned to Kaunas from Paris in the early 1930s, where he had studied stained glass at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers under Henri Marcel Magne, improved his painting skills at the Academie Moderne under Fernand Leger, and followed classes in set design given by Aleksandra Exter. Ušinskas made his debut in Kaunas with a solo exhibition in the autumn of 1931, presenting the artistic innovations he had learnt in Paris, which were until then almost unknown on the local art scene.

His compositions in the styles of Cubism, Constructivism and Art Deco received critical acclaim. Halina Kairiūkštytė-Jacinienė wrote: ‘Ušinskis’ exhibition is the first exhibition sui generis in Kaunas. Due to its innovative nature, the Kaunas audience will definitely find it interesting to visit, although, being used to mostly realistic works that tend to idealise or copy nature, visitors will probably have various opinions’ (H. Kairiūkštytė-Jacinienė, ‘The Exhibition of Work by the Artist Ušinskis‘, Židinys, 1931, No 8–9, p. 165). The fear of a hostile reaction by the public to artistic innovations was not justified. The exhibition attracted huge interest, and as many as 15 out of the 27 paintings found buyers.

In the second half of the 1930s, like most of his colleagues seeking state support, Stasys Ušinskas (1905–1974) turned from avant-garde explorations to Neoclassicism, a style that was more approved of, and more suitable for the interiors of public buildings. His work was not merely a conservative attempt to imitate the art of the past. The plafond Circus rehearsal is reminiscent of the 17th-century trompe l’oeil wall paintings that decorated the best spaces in interiors, but the Art Deco style chosen by Ušinskas puts the work in a contemporary context.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

 

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; "1918-1945 / Kaunas-Vilnius", 27 August 2020 – 21 August 2021, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.

Stasys Ušinskas (1905–1974) must have begun designing the plafond Circus rehearsal in the late 1930s when he lived and worked in New York, at approximately the same time that he was painting the decorative composition Music (1938) for a Broadway theatre. Some of the characters in the preliminary drawings that were made for it were transferred to the new plafond. Both Music and Circus rehearsal are important examples of Art Deco, proving that Ušinskas was familiar with both modern art and the Classical heritage, or more precisely, with illusionary painting of 17th-century Italian Baroque. The plafond Circus rehearsal is sometimes dated to 1945, due to its stylistic association with the composition A Midsummer night’s dream (1946), but the artist probably finished the work before 1940, and during and after the war he altered separate parts of it.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

The work and teaching activities of Stasys Ušinskas (1905–1974) were a major impetus to the development of Lithuanian art. An alumnus of Kaunas Art School, Ušinskas returned to Kaunas from Paris in the early 1930s, where he had studied stained glass at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers under Henri Marcel Magne, improved his painting skills at the Academie Moderne under Fernand Leger, and followed classes in set design given by Aleksandra Exter. Ušinskas made his debut in Kaunas with a solo exhibition in the autumn of 1931, presenting the artistic innovations he had learnt in Paris, which were until then almost unknown on the local art scene.

His compositions in the styles of Cubism, Constructivism and Art Deco received critical acclaim. Halina Kairiūkštytė-Jacinienė wrote: ‘Ušinskis’ exhibition is the first exhibition sui generis in Kaunas. Due to its innovative nature, the Kaunas audience will definitely find it interesting to visit, although, being used to mostly realistic works that tend to idealise or copy nature, visitors will probably have various opinions’ (H. Kairiūkštytė-Jacinienė, ‘The Exhibition of Work by the Artist Ušinskis‘, Židinys, 1931, No 8–9, p. 165). The fear of a hostile reaction by the public to artistic innovations was not justified. The exhibition attracted huge interest, and as many as 15 out of the 27 paintings found buyers.

In the second half of the 1930s, like most of his colleagues seeking state support, Stasys Ušinskas (1905–1974) turned from avant-garde explorations to Neoclassicism, a style that was more approved of, and more suitable for the interiors of public buildings. His work was not merely a conservative attempt to imitate the art of the past. The plafond Circus rehearsal is reminiscent of the 17th-century trompe l’oeil wall paintings that decorated the best spaces in interiors, but the Art Deco style chosen by Ušinskas puts the work in a contemporary context.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

 

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; "1918-1945 / Kaunas-Vilnius", 27 August 2020 – 21 August 2021, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.