On the Beach

There is an unusually large number of beach scenes in the work of mid-20th century Lithuanian artists, who were not especially focused on the leisure time of town dwellers. At the turn of the 1920s and the 1930s, Kajetonas Sklėrius painted sunbathers on the beach at Palanga. Subsequently, Vytautas Kairiūkštis enthusiastically painted nudes against the background of the sea. This picture by Petras Kiaulėnas (1909–1955) is a slightly mundane version of bathers. The artist painted two urban dwellers wearing rather closed-style bikinis (as were worn in the West, where Kiaulėnas was living; they reached Lithuania about a decade later) engaged in conversation. The picture may be described as genre art, or as a study of the naked body, but in fact on seeing it one feels a longing for summer, the sea and holidays with all their pleasures. The longing is aroused by the view and its mood, as well as by the beauty of the women and the painting itself. 

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

The beach scene in this painting brings back pleasant memories of summer holidays, the sea breeze, and sunbathing. Its clear colours, vibrant atmosphere and loose brushstrokes link the work to the traditions of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Petras Kiaulėnas (1909–1955) spent a decade studying at Kaunas Art School and the Accademia Regia di Belle Arti in Rome, where he improved his already proficient drawing skills. However, it was Paris that truly transformed him into an Impressionist. Kiaulėnas visited museums frequently while studying architecture there during the war. He was captivated by the works of Renoir, Sisley and Bonnard, gradually immersing himself in colourist painting. In a diary entry for December 1943, he wrote: ‘In order to express form in colours [...] the brushstrokes must follow consistently the play of light rather than the shapes of objects [...] Modern painting has to be light’ (Petras Kiaulėnas, Atsiminimai, dienoraščiai, laiškai [Memoirs, Diaries, Letters], ed. Vidmantas Jankauskas, Vilnius: Vilnius Academy of Art Publishing House, 2020, pp. 58–61). In abandoning tonal modelling, Kiaulėnas created the impression of fleeting moments with sketchy brushstrokes, and his canvases began to breathe freedom. Although he envisioned his future and his happiness in Paris, he moved to the United States in 1946, persuaded by his wife, the architect Vassia (Nicolakaki) Kiaulėnienė. He found work in an architectural office there, and continued to paint sunny, joyful scenes in his free time.

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius

There is an unusually large number of beach scenes in the work of mid-20th century Lithuanian artists, who were not especially focused on the leisure time of town dwellers. At the turn of the 1920s and the 1930s, Kajetonas Sklėrius painted sunbathers on the beach at Palanga. Subsequently, Vytautas Kairiūkštis enthusiastically painted nudes against the background of the sea. This picture by Petras Kiaulėnas (1909–1955) is a slightly mundane version of bathers. The artist painted two urban dwellers wearing rather closed-style bikinis (as were worn in the West, where Kiaulėnas was living; they reached Lithuania about a decade later) engaged in conversation. The picture may be described as genre art, or as a study of the naked body, but in fact on seeing it one feels a longing for summer, the sea and holidays with all their pleasures. The longing is aroused by the view and its mood, as well as by the beauty of the women and the painting itself. 

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

The beach scene in this painting brings back pleasant memories of summer holidays, the sea breeze, and sunbathing. Its clear colours, vibrant atmosphere and loose brushstrokes link the work to the traditions of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Petras Kiaulėnas (1909–1955) spent a decade studying at Kaunas Art School and the Accademia Regia di Belle Arti in Rome, where he improved his already proficient drawing skills. However, it was Paris that truly transformed him into an Impressionist. Kiaulėnas visited museums frequently while studying architecture there during the war. He was captivated by the works of Renoir, Sisley and Bonnard, gradually immersing himself in colourist painting. In a diary entry for December 1943, he wrote: ‘In order to express form in colours [...] the brushstrokes must follow consistently the play of light rather than the shapes of objects [...] Modern painting has to be light’ (Petras Kiaulėnas, Atsiminimai, dienoraščiai, laiškai [Memoirs, Diaries, Letters], ed. Vidmantas Jankauskas, Vilnius: Vilnius Academy of Art Publishing House, 2020, pp. 58–61). In abandoning tonal modelling, Kiaulėnas created the impression of fleeting moments with sketchy brushstrokes, and his canvases began to breathe freedom. Although he envisioned his future and his happiness in Paris, he moved to the United States in 1946, persuaded by his wife, the architect Vassia (Nicolakaki) Kiaulėnienė. He found work in an architectural office there, and continued to paint sunny, joyful scenes in his free time.

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius