Self-Portrait

The wave of emigration from Lithuania between the wars was not driven primarily by economic hardship but by the changing mood of the population. As their knowledge of the wider world expanded and the younger generation sought greater freedoms, often rejecting the roles determined for them by their parents, more and more men and women were drawn to seek their fortune abroad. Jonas Rimša (1903–1978), the son of a well-known fashion designer and tailor in Kaunas, was expected to take up his father’s profession, but he resisted this plan. Lured by the advertisements of transatlantic shipping companies, Rimša left for South America in 1926. Emigration involved several challenging stages of integration: gruelling physical labour on Brazilian coffee plantations, art studies at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, and fierce competition in the art market in the Argentinian capital. He eventually gained recognition in neighbouring Bolivia. His creative expression evolved simultaneously, from early realistic portraits to dynamic Expressionist depictions of the jungle, and ultimately to the decorative and stylised canvases characteristic of the Indigenist trend.

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė
Expositions: “Tropic Scream: Argentina–Bolivia–Tahiti“, 10 June – 5 September 2010, Vilnius Picture Gallery, Vilnius

The wave of emigration from Lithuania between the wars was not driven primarily by economic hardship but by the changing mood of the population. As their knowledge of the wider world expanded and the younger generation sought greater freedoms, often rejecting the roles determined for them by their parents, more and more men and women were drawn to seek their fortune abroad. Jonas Rimša (1903–1978), the son of a well-known fashion designer and tailor in Kaunas, was expected to take up his father’s profession, but he resisted this plan. Lured by the advertisements of transatlantic shipping companies, Rimša left for South America in 1926. Emigration involved several challenging stages of integration: gruelling physical labour on Brazilian coffee plantations, art studies at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, and fierce competition in the art market in the Argentinian capital. He eventually gained recognition in neighbouring Bolivia. His creative expression evolved simultaneously, from early realistic portraits to dynamic Expressionist depictions of the jungle, and ultimately to the decorative and stylised canvases characteristic of the Indigenist trend.

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė
Expositions: “Tropic Scream: Argentina–Bolivia–Tahiti“, 10 June – 5 September 2010, Vilnius Picture Gallery, Vilnius