The May holiday

The principles of Art Deco that Stasys Ušinskas (1905–1974) absorbed in his youth helped him during the Soviet period to comply with no difficulty with the requirements of local Socialist Realism. The composition The May holiday accurately renders the appearance and the mood of participants in a Soviet song festival. Both the characters and the festival itself are slightly caricatured. The artist used compositions of a similar style to decorate the glass vases he made together with his sister Filomena Ušinskaitė. If Lithuanians were to make cartoons, Ušinskas’ figures would suit them very well.

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.

The principles of Art Deco that Stasys Ušinskas (1905–1974) absorbed in his youth helped him during the Soviet period to comply with no difficulty with the requirements of local Socialist Realism. The composition The May holiday accurately renders the appearance and the mood of participants in a Soviet song festival. Both the characters and the festival itself are slightly caricatured. The artist used compositions of a similar style to decorate the glass vases he made together with his sister Filomena Ušinskaitė. If Lithuanians were to make cartoons, Ušinskas’ figures would suit them very well.

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.