| Author: | Juozas Bagdonas (1911–2005) |
Juozas Bagdonas was born on 11 December 1911 into a farmers’ family living in the village of Antrųjų Videikių, in the Plungė rural district. He attended a gymnasium in Plungė from 1923 to 1926, and later in Telšiai. He left the gymnasium in Telšiai in 1928 and entered Kaunas School of Art. In 1930, he began to study at Justinas Vienožinskis’ studio. He won the first State Prize for his figure composition ‘Back from the Sea’ in 1938. The next year, he travelled extensively in Western Europe (Germany, Italy and France). When Lithuania regained Vilnius, he arranged an exhibition of Lithuanian art. He fled to Austria in 1944, and then to Germany. Between 1946 and 1948, he taught drawing and art history at the Lithuanian gymnasium in Ravensburg. In the winter of 1948, he moved to Columbia in South America, where he lived in Bogota and taught art at the Ladies’ College and the State Academy of Art, where he established a ceramics studio.
In 1958, he left for Washington. He opened a prestigious art gallery there in 1960, and organised exhibitions of work by American artists. He also organised the first exhibition of abstract art in the Lithuanian Hall in Baltimore, and later in the Lithuanian communities in Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Toronto, Hamilton, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Hartford, Woodhaven, Washington and St Louis. He moved to New York in 1964. From 1999, he lived in Plungė.
The artist’s career can be broken into three periods. In the realistic Impressionist works of his Lithuanian period until 1944, the influence of Kaunas School of Art and of Justinas Vienožinskis is visible. His Columbian period from 1952 to 1963 is distinguished by vivacious compositions, with less restrained and more energetic brushstrokes, decorative lines, and light and bright colours, while his ceramic works are distinguished by their Constructivist style. His Abstract Expressionist period from 1963 to 2005 is characterised by spontaneity, and unexpected compositions, tones and undertones. His pictures usually have a warm golden tone. In a figurative sense, they reflect the dynamic pace of life which controls everything, with shapes, colours and lines intruding emotionally into the space.
Bagdonas held a solo exhibition of paintings in the Lithuanian Art Museum in 1992, which later transferred to the Kaunas Art Gallery. After an exhibition in the Oginskis mansion in Plungė (1993), he presented 18 abstract pictures to the nation. In 1995, after the establishment of the Žemaičių Art Museum, he presented another 90 of his works. When he returned to Lithuania to live, he gave pictures to museums in Vilnius, Kaunas, Plungė, Klaipėda and Telšiai. In 2001, Bagdonas was granted the title of Honorary Citizen of Plungė. He died on 11 August 2005 in Plungė. The Lithuanian Art Museum put on a retrospective exhibition of his work in 2011.
Source: Valiunas Ellex (LAWIN until 2015) art album: THE WORLD OF LANDSCAPES II (2013). Compiler and author Nijolė Tumėnienė.
Juozas Bagdonas was born on 11 December 1911 into a farmers’ family living in the village of Antrųjų Videikių, in the Plungė rural district. He attended a gymnasium in Plungė from 1923 to 1926, and later in Telšiai. He left the gymnasium in Telšiai in 1928 and entered Kaunas School of Art. In 1930, he began to study at Justinas Vienožinskis’ studio. He won the first State Prize for his figure composition ‘Back from the Sea’ in 1938. The next year, he travelled extensively in Western Europe (Germany, Italy and France). When Lithuania regained Vilnius, he arranged an exhibition of Lithuanian art. He fled to Austria in 1944, and then to Germany. Between 1946 and 1948, he taught drawing and art history at the Lithuanian gymnasium in Ravensburg. In the winter of 1948, he moved to Columbia in South America, where he lived in Bogota and taught art at the Ladies’ College and the State Academy of Art, where he established a ceramics studio.
In 1958, he left for Washington. He opened a prestigious art gallery there in 1960, and organised exhibitions of work by American artists. He also organised the first exhibition of abstract art in the Lithuanian Hall in Baltimore, and later in the Lithuanian communities in Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Toronto, Hamilton, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Hartford, Woodhaven, Washington and St Louis. He moved to New York in 1964. From 1999, he lived in Plungė.
The artist’s career can be broken into three periods. In the realistic Impressionist works of his Lithuanian period until 1944, the influence of Kaunas School of Art and of Justinas Vienožinskis is visible. His Columbian period from 1952 to 1963 is distinguished by vivacious compositions, with less restrained and more energetic brushstrokes, decorative lines, and light and bright colours, while his ceramic works are distinguished by their Constructivist style. His Abstract Expressionist period from 1963 to 2005 is characterised by spontaneity, and unexpected compositions, tones and undertones. His pictures usually have a warm golden tone. In a figurative sense, they reflect the dynamic pace of life which controls everything, with shapes, colours and lines intruding emotionally into the space.
Bagdonas held a solo exhibition of paintings in the Lithuanian Art Museum in 1992, which later transferred to the Kaunas Art Gallery. After an exhibition in the Oginskis mansion in Plungė (1993), he presented 18 abstract pictures to the nation. In 1995, after the establishment of the Žemaičių Art Museum, he presented another 90 of his works. When he returned to Lithuania to live, he gave pictures to museums in Vilnius, Kaunas, Plungė, Klaipėda and Telšiai. In 2001, Bagdonas was granted the title of Honorary Citizen of Plungė. He died on 11 August 2005 in Plungė. The Lithuanian Art Museum put on a retrospective exhibition of his work in 2011.
Source: Valiunas Ellex (LAWIN until 2015) art album: THE WORLD OF LANDSCAPES II (2013). Compiler and author Nijolė Tumėnienė.