
An alley in Chicago
Author: | Petras Kiaulėnas (1909–1955) |
Petras Kiaulėnas was a painter and architect. He was born on 10 January 1909 in the village of Naniškiai, near Pandėlis. He attended Kaunas School of Art from 1928 to 1934. He studied painting at the Accademia Regia di Belle Arti in Rome from 1934 to 1937, and at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris from 1937 to 1942. He studied architecture at the Institut d’Urbanisme de l’Université de Paris from 1938 to 1940. He left for the USA in 1946, and settled in New York in 1952. While travelling around Europe, Kiaulėnas learnt about the masters of the great schools of the past in the museums of Amsterdam, Dresden, Brussels, Rome, Venice and Paris. Being sensitive to colour, he chose Titian and Rubens as his teachers. He often talked about the free and broad style of Titian’s painting, its extraordinarily mesmerising quality (especially the later works), and the rich colours and bright tints, and speculated about the artistic importance of the uncovered patches of canvas.
Kiaulėnas produced landscapes, still lifes, portraits and figure compositions. The influence of Impressionism in his paintings is clear: forms are simplified and the colouring is limpid. His most important exhibitions were in Paris (1943, 1944, 1946, 1957), Chicago (1985) and Vilnius (1993). His best works are held by the Lithuanian Art Museum. He died on 15 August 1955 in New York. The Petras Kiaulėnas Museum opened in Farmingville, NY State, in 1973.
Source: Valiunas Ellex (LAWIN until 2015) art album: THE WORLD OF LANDSCAPES II (2013). Compiler and author Nijolė Tumėnienė.

Petras Kiaulėnas was a painter and architect. He was born on 10 January 1909 in the village of Naniškiai, near Pandėlis. He attended Kaunas School of Art from 1928 to 1934. He studied painting at the Accademia Regia di Belle Arti in Rome from 1934 to 1937, and at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris from 1937 to 1942. He studied architecture at the Institut d’Urbanisme de l’Université de Paris from 1938 to 1940. He left for the USA in 1946, and settled in New York in 1952. While travelling around Europe, Kiaulėnas learnt about the masters of the great schools of the past in the museums of Amsterdam, Dresden, Brussels, Rome, Venice and Paris. Being sensitive to colour, he chose Titian and Rubens as his teachers. He often talked about the free and broad style of Titian’s painting, its extraordinarily mesmerising quality (especially the later works), and the rich colours and bright tints, and speculated about the artistic importance of the uncovered patches of canvas.
Kiaulėnas produced landscapes, still lifes, portraits and figure compositions. The influence of Impressionism in his paintings is clear: forms are simplified and the colouring is limpid. His most important exhibitions were in Paris (1943, 1944, 1946, 1957), Chicago (1985) and Vilnius (1993). His best works are held by the Lithuanian Art Museum. He died on 15 August 1955 in New York. The Petras Kiaulėnas Museum opened in Farmingville, NY State, in 1973.
Source: Valiunas Ellex (LAWIN until 2015) art album: THE WORLD OF LANDSCAPES II (2013). Compiler and author Nijolė Tumėnienė.