Fishermen

Sofija Urbonavičiūtė (Urbanowicz, 1915–1980), a member of the Lithuanian community in Vilnius, studied art at Stephen Batory University under Ludomir Sleńdziński between 1933 and 1938. Her composition Fishermen illustrates Sleńdziński’s teaching programme, which was based on principles of Neo-Classicism. Urbonavičiūtė’s works were well received by her teachers, despite a lack of drawing skills and clarity of composition, which was a characteristic of works by the best students. After graduating, Urbonavičiūtė received a grant from the St Casimir Society of Vilnius Lithuanians to go to Paris and study for a year. She studied wall-painting and stained-glass techniques at the National Arts and Crafts School, and attended courses in poster art and animation at the private Paul Colin studio. However, despite her successful start, her career as an artist did not proceed smoothly. It was not by her paintings or her prints that she became well known,
but her photographs of Vilnius, almost miraculously acquired by art collectors long after the artist’s death, which  immortalised views of a city that had been devastated by the Second World War. Urbonavičiūtė took these photographs together with Jan Bułhak, for the Cultural Heritage Protection Authority.

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; “The Vilniusite. Sofija Urbonavičiūtė-Subačiuvienė (1915–1980)”, 11 September – 3 October 2015, Vilnius Graphic Art Centre‘s gallery “Kairė-dešinė”, Vilnius

Sofija Urbonavičiūtė (Urbanowicz, 1915–1980), a member of the Lithuanian community in Vilnius, studied art at Stephen Batory University under Ludomir Sleńdziński between 1933 and 1938. Her composition Fishermen illustrates Sleńdziński’s teaching programme, which was based on principles of Neo-Classicism. Urbonavičiūtė’s works were well received by her teachers, despite a lack of drawing skills and clarity of composition, which was a characteristic of works by the best students. After graduating, Urbonavičiūtė received a grant from the St Casimir Society of Vilnius Lithuanians to go to Paris and study for a year. She studied wall-painting and stained-glass techniques at the National Arts and Crafts School, and attended courses in poster art and animation at the private Paul Colin studio. However, despite her successful start, her career as an artist did not proceed smoothly. It was not by her paintings or her prints that she became well known,
but her photographs of Vilnius, almost miraculously acquired by art collectors long after the artist’s death, which  immortalised views of a city that had been devastated by the Second World War. Urbonavičiūtė took these photographs together with Jan Bułhak, for the Cultural Heritage Protection Authority.

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; “The Vilniusite. Sofija Urbonavičiūtė-Subačiuvienė (1915–1980)”, 11 September – 3 October 2015, Vilnius Graphic Art Centre‘s gallery “Kairė-dešinė”, Vilnius