The Rape of Europa

The Polish artists were in a more precarious position than the Lithuanians. After the closure of Stephen Báthory University, many of its professors could not find work at institutions founded by the Soviet authorities. Some had to look for an alternative source of income. Artistic life did not stop, but it was dominated by Lithuanian artists, members of the Lithuanian Artists’ Union, the rules for which had been laid down by the Soviet and Nazi occupying authorities. The Nazi authorities put restrictions on artists of Slavic origin participating in official art activities, and would not allow them to show their work. However, this did not mean that Polish artists stopped working. Most professors and former students from the university lived in Vilnius until 1946 or 1947, when they were forced to move to Poland, taking the Vilnius art tradition to Gdansk, Toruń and other Polish cities.

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

The Polish artists were in a more precarious position than the Lithuanians. After the closure of Stephen Báthory University, many of its professors could not find work at institutions founded by the Soviet authorities. Some had to look for an alternative source of income. Artistic life did not stop, but it was dominated by Lithuanian artists, members of the Lithuanian Artists’ Union, the rules for which had been laid down by the Soviet and Nazi occupying authorities. The Nazi authorities put restrictions on artists of Slavic origin participating in official art activities, and would not allow them to show their work. However, this did not mean that Polish artists stopped working. Most professors and former students from the university lived in Vilnius until 1946 or 1947, when they were forced to move to Poland, taking the Vilnius art tradition to Gdansk, Toruń and other Polish cities.

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