Our Lady of the Rosary. Cartoon for stained glass 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

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė
Expositions: “Heaven and Beyond. Works of religious art from the collection of Rolandas Valiūnas and the law firm Valiunas Ellex“, 31 May–24 September 2016, Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius (curators Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė).  "St Dominic and St Hyacinth in Lithuania: Eight Centuries of Memory", 17 August 2021 – 29 January 2022, Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius. Curator of the exhibition Birutė Valečkaitė.

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

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė
Expositions: “Heaven and Beyond. Works of religious art from the collection of Rolandas Valiūnas and the law firm Valiunas Ellex“, 31 May–24 September 2016, Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius (curators Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė).  "St Dominic and St Hyacinth in Lithuania: Eight Centuries of Memory", 17 August 2021 – 29 January 2022, Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius. Curator of the exhibition Birutė Valečkaitė.