An omen in the sky (observed by the artist in 1931, east of the Jadagoniai ancient burial ground)

A common feature of the wartime art by Lithuanian and Polish artists was the unsettling and melancholic mood, bred by uncertainty about the future, and personal and social tragedy. In 1943, Jonas Šileika (1883–1960), a teacher at Kaunas Art School who usually worked in a moderate style, painted some untypical experimental landscapes of his homeland, looking for omens in the sky.

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.

A common feature of the wartime art by Lithuanian and Polish artists was the unsettling and melancholic mood, bred by uncertainty about the future, and personal and social tragedy. In 1943, Jonas Šileika (1883–1960), a teacher at Kaunas Art School who usually worked in a moderate style, painted some untypical experimental landscapes of his homeland, looking for omens in the sky.

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.