St Michael the Archangel. Stained glass cartoon for the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Marquette Park in Chicago, Illinois, USA

Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas (1907–1997) decorated more than 50 churches and chapels in the USA, Canada, Australia and the Vatican. Between 1955 and 1962, in collaboration with the architect Jonas Mulokas, he contributed to the formation of the principles of ‘Lithuanian-style’ architecture and decoration for the churches of expatriate communities in the USA. Jonynas produced stained glass windows and an interior full of Classical and folk decoration and national motifs for the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago, which give the church its individuality. He tried to find a suitable harmony between Realism and modern forms, and at the same time to continue the tradition of religious art that met the expectations of the public. He once wrote that in his desire to understand the properties of the material he was working with, he took a sheet of glass and hit it in the centre with a hammer. ‘The shapes of the fragments of broken glass led me to a style that was natural to the substance. This hammer blow and the analysis of its aftermath was my first and only lesson in stained glass art.’

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas had already gained recognition and built a distinguished career in Lithuania before he emigrated. He was known as a graphic artist, book illustrator, and teacher at Kaunas Art School. During the German occupation he was responsible for running the school and keeping it open under difficult conditions. After leaving Lithuania, Jonynas settled in Freiburg in 1946 in the French occupation zone of Germany, where he founded the École des Arts et Métiers (School of Arts and Crafts) for displaced persons. The school offered continuing education to many Lithuanian art students who had become war refugees. On moving to the United States, he entered a radically different cultural and professional sphere. He quickly realised that his work as a graphic artist was not in great demand. In order to support his family, he turned to religious art, which was undergoing a revival in the 1950s and 1960s, and established the Jonynas and Shepherd Art Studio together with the American artist Donald Shepherd. Starting with commissions for Lithuanian churches, they soon expanded to work for American parishes across the east coast of the United States. One of their first major commissions came from Chicago, home to the largest Lithuanian émigré community. In the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (designed by the architect Jonas Mulokas in 1957) in the Marquette Park district, Jonynas installed a series of vibrant stained-glass windows featuring traditional Christian iconography.

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė, ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas (1907–1997) decorated more than 50 churches and chapels in the USA, Canada, Australia and the Vatican. Between 1955 and 1962, in collaboration with the architect Jonas Mulokas, he contributed to the formation of the principles of ‘Lithuanian-style’ architecture and decoration for the churches of expatriate communities in the USA. Jonynas produced stained glass windows and an interior full of Classical and folk decoration and national motifs for the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago, which give the church its individuality. He tried to find a suitable harmony between Realism and modern forms, and at the same time to continue the tradition of religious art that met the expectations of the public. He once wrote that in his desire to understand the properties of the material he was working with, he took a sheet of glass and hit it in the centre with a hammer. ‘The shapes of the fragments of broken glass led me to a style that was natural to the substance. This hammer blow and the analysis of its aftermath was my first and only lesson in stained glass art.’

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas had already gained recognition and built a distinguished career in Lithuania before he emigrated. He was known as a graphic artist, book illustrator, and teacher at Kaunas Art School. During the German occupation he was responsible for running the school and keeping it open under difficult conditions. After leaving Lithuania, Jonynas settled in Freiburg in 1946 in the French occupation zone of Germany, where he founded the École des Arts et Métiers (School of Arts and Crafts) for displaced persons. The school offered continuing education to many Lithuanian art students who had become war refugees. On moving to the United States, he entered a radically different cultural and professional sphere. He quickly realised that his work as a graphic artist was not in great demand. In order to support his family, he turned to religious art, which was undergoing a revival in the 1950s and 1960s, and established the Jonynas and Shepherd Art Studio together with the American artist Donald Shepherd. Starting with commissions for Lithuanian churches, they soon expanded to work for American parishes across the east coast of the United States. One of their first major commissions came from Chicago, home to the largest Lithuanian émigré community. In the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (designed by the architect Jonas Mulokas in 1957) in the Marquette Park district, Jonynas installed a series of vibrant stained-glass windows featuring traditional Christian iconography.

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė, ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė