{"id":23855,"date":"2025-04-07T11:23:34","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T08:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lndm.devmerit.com\/taikomosios-dailes-ir-meno-muziejus\/parodos\/stasys-usinskas-the-iceberg-of-lithuanian-modernism\/"},"modified":"2025-04-07T11:23:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T08:23:34","slug":"stasys-usinskas-the-iceberg-of-lithuanian-modernism","status":"publish","type":"paroda","link":"https:\/\/lndm.devmerit.com\/en\/museum-of-applied-arts-and-design\/exhibitions\/stasys-usinskas-the-iceberg-of-lithuanian-modernism\/","title":{"rendered":"Stasys U\u0161inskas: The Iceberg of Lithuanian Modernism\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Stasys U\u0161inskas (1905\u20131974), born to a stone-cutter from Pakruojis on the Lithuanian-Latvian frontier, rose to the top of his artistic career in the 1st half and the middle of the 20th C. Of his contemporaries on the Lithuanian art stage, Vytautas Kairi\u016bk\u0161tis (1890\u20131961) may compare to him in their avant-garde aspirations, yet on the whole U\u0161inskas\u2019s multifaceted talent at home knew no equals: a superb painter and draughtsman, a virtuoso of multiple figure compositions, a revolutionary stage designer, book illustrator, stained-glass and decorative glasswork artist, puppeteer, animator and a pedagogue. His brave invention of new stylistics and use of different media, techniques and technologies, his avid reinvention of himself across a range of art fields, set him firmly, in contrast to Expressionists, on the path of constructive and decorative art. The groundbreaking pieces by the artist featured at his birth centenary exhibition in Kaunas were aptly encapsulated as the \u2018constructions of volitional beauty\u2019.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stasys U\u0161inskas\u2019s pioneering contribution embraces so many areas. The artist is considered the father of modern Lithuanian stained-glass was also the founder of professional puppet theatre and the forerunner of Lithuanian animation. 6 May 1936, when Metropolitain Film Theatre in Kaunas gave the first-night of <\/span>Silverstas D\u016bdel\u0117 (Silvestras the Pipe)<\/span><\/i>, a play of marionette puppets, gave rise to the puppeteers’ professional holiday in the country. Stasys U\u0161inskas was the maker of the first Lithuanian puppet-animated sound film <\/span>The Dream of the Fatty<\/span><\/i> (1938). His ideas for stage designs for the opera and drama productions show a new approach in the planning and constructing of the visual space for the stage \u2018box\u2019, in contrast to the task of deciding <\/span>how<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>where<\/span><\/i> to hang the already produced paintings and to how to \u201cdecorate\u201d the stage. U\u0161inskas produced inspired scenic and costume designs for the State Theatre productions, examples being J. R. Planquette\u2019s <\/span>Les cloches de Corneville<\/span><\/i>, A. de Musset <\/span>No Trifling with Love<\/span><\/i>, W. Shakespeare\u2019s <\/span>Twelfth Night, or What You Will<\/span><\/i>, Johann Strauss\u2019s operetta <\/span>The\u202fGypsy Baron.<\/span><\/i> U\u0161inskas\u2019s biggest achievement for stage productions was his scenic and costume design for Balys Dvarionas\u2019s ballet <\/span>The Matchmaking<\/span><\/i>. His modern Lithuanian folk costume designs show tactful humour, while his brave alterations to the traditional silhouettes, shapes and patterns resulted in the appearance that strikes as modern even today.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stasys U\u0161inskas was born in Pakruojis on 21 July 1905. As a child, he spent several years in the USA with his parents. His first acquaintance with art was via the art collections at Pakruojis manor house of von de Ropp family, where the future artist\u2019s grandfather served. Upon coming back to Lithuania, in 1920 \u2013 1921, he studied at Linkuva Pre-gymnasium, and for subsequent four years, at \u0160iauliai State Gymnasium. He lodged at the dormitory \u017dibur\u0117lis provided by the Pupils and Students\u2019 Society, which helped needy students. U\u0161inskas was supported with a stipend from the organization, too. In 1925 \u2013 1929, he enrolled at Kaunas Art School where he attended Justinas Vieno\u017einskis\u2019s painting studio. Yet he was excluded from the school for participating in students\u2019 strike and for adding his signature to a letter to the education minister.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1929\u20131933, he studied (with intermissions) in Paris. He took classes in drawing and composition at the private Acad\u00e9mie Julian<\/span> and studied at the Conservatoire National des Arts et M\u00e9tiers<\/span> graduating from the school on 1 July 1933 with a diploma in stained-glass and stage design. While in Paris, he also studied at the private Fernand L\u00e9ger\u2019s Acad\u00e9mie Moderne under Alexandra Exter (his graduation project was drawings for the set and costume design for Sophocles\u2019 <\/span>Oedipus the King<\/span><\/i> and Shakespeare\u2019s <\/span>Othello<\/span><\/i>.)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stasys U\u0161inskas embarked on his career at home with an amazing intensity already in 1930, the year that saw Lithuania commemorating 500 years since the death of Vytautas the Great. U\u0161inskas managed to take on his creative projects in Lithuania together with his studies in Paris. In 1930, he organized his solo exhibition in \u0160iauliai, and in 1931, in Kaunas, gaining positive acclaim for his stylistic innovations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While in Paris, U\u0161inskas got interest in stained-glass technique and started producing exhibition pieces as well as projects for the churches and interiors of public buildings, using classical technique of thin glass sheets for stained-glass work. From the middle of the 1950s, he started experiments in decorative glassworks. He was the first in Lithuania using mirror and thick glass slabs for stained-glass projects. He adopted low-temperature-firing to make coloured glass vases, plates, drinking glasses, chalices, decorative and everyday glassware.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1936, U\u0161inskas visited the United States of America, while his half-a-year sojourn in the country at the turn of 1937 \u2013 1938 was especially intense. In 1937, he organized his solo exhibit at the Rogers Gallery in New York, and in 1938, he produced scenic and costume designs for Strindberg\u2019s <\/span>The Bridal Crown<\/span><\/i> (stage director A. Oleka \u2013 \u017dilinskas) at the Broadway Theatre, and for Euripides\u2019s<\/span> The Trojan Women<\/span><\/i> directed by M. Hunter at the Nicholas Roerich Museum\u2019s Theatre, New York City.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1939, only in his mid-forties, U\u0161inskas reached the summit of his career. The Lithuanian Pavilion at the 1939 New York World\u2019s Fair showcased three of the artist\u2019s monumental pieces: two historic canvases,<\/span> The 1429 Congress of Lutsk (Vytautas the Great in the Castle of Lutsk) <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas Striking His Sword Against the Kremlin Gate in Moscow in 1369, <\/span><\/i>and a panel, <\/span>Lithuania (Lithuanian School). <\/span><\/i>The three pieces were state commissions. The panel <\/span>Lithuania <\/span><\/i>displayed, in a highly artistic and optimist manner, the obvious progress of education in the emerging modern state. These historical paintings, according to Prof Giedr\u0117 Mick\u016bnait\u0117, \u201crepresent the expectations of the past. Paradoxically, none of these hopes reached fruition: Algirdas never took Moscow, Vytautas failed to be crowned king, thus the paintings seem to represented the bygone potential of the country, which the modern State of Lithuania now sought to realize.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

U\u0161inskas\u2019s puppet-animated sound film <\/span>The Dream of the Fatty<\/span><\/i> (camera Alfonsas \u017dibas, composer Stasys Gailevi\u010dius) was also screened at the New York World\u2019s Fair. In 1939, the American cartoon company Dal-company commissioned a new production based on Hans Christian Andersen\u2019s fairy tale <\/span>The Nightingale<\/span><\/i>, and the next year he drew sketches for five puppet-marionette characters. In all likelihood, Stasys U\u0161inskas<\/span> received invitations from American companies to draw sketches and make models for mass production of toys. The outbreak of World War Two thwarted all the plans and possibilities of creative work for foreign clients.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stasys U\u0161inskas was also an art pedagogue, active in different teaching positions all the time: in 1933\u20131940 he taught at Kaunas Art School (from 1935, headed the Decorative Painting Studio). Holding professorship from 1946, during postwar years, he taught at Kaunas Applied and Decorative Art Institute, Vilnius State Art Institute, Kaunas Polytechnical Institute, Vilnius Engineering and Construction Institute.\u00a0 He developed teaching aids and materials, \u201cKarpymo s\u0105siuvinys\u201d (<\/span>Workbook for Cutting) <\/span><\/i>(K., 1937), \u201cL\u0117li\u0173 ir kauki\u0173 teatras\u201d (<\/span>Theatre of Puppets and Masks)<\/span><\/i> (V., 2005)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stasys U\u0161inskas died on 14 June 1974 in Kaunas, and rests in Romainiai Cemetery.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the screening of <\/span>The Dream of the Fatty<\/span><\/i> in New York in 1939, the artist\u2019s original technology of marionettes and their designs received the patenting in the United States.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4 June 2019, on proposal by the Lithuanian Central State Archives, Stasys U\u0161inskas\u2019s puppet-animated film <\/span>The Dream of the Fatty<\/span><\/i> (director and art director Stasys U\u0161inskas, cameramen Stasys Vainilavi\u010dius and Alfonsas \u017dibas; sound by Berlin Film Studio Fujifilm) and the designs of the marionettes in the film are safeguarded at the Lithuanian Central State Archives and a private collection. They are recognized a property of documentary heritage of the national level of significance and are listed in the Lithuanian National Register (No 71) of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Project team<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Project Manager: D\u017eiuljeta \u017diug\u017edien\u0117 \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Curator: Dr. Ramut\u0117 Rachlevi\u010di\u016bt\u0117 \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Architect: \u016ala \u017debrauskait\u0117-Malinausk\u0117 \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Designer: Marius \u017dalneravi\u010dius \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coordinating Architect: Egl\u0117 Jagmin\u0117 \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coordinator: Monika Gedrimait\u0117 \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lighting Designer: Mantas Markevi\u010dius<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Translator: Irena Jomantien\u0117<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Partners:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

National M. K. \u010ciurlionis Art Museum \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lithuanian National Museum \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vilnius Puppet Theatre \u201cL\u0117l\u0117\u201d \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lithuanian Central State Archives \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lithuanian Literature and Art Archive \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vytautas the Great War Museum<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Special Thanks To:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr \u017dydr\u016bnas Mirinavi\u010dius, Ma\u017evydas Truklickas, Andrius Melys, Dainius Markevi\u010dius, Tomas Orlovas, Salvijus Misevi\u010dius, Lukas Narvilas, Vadim \u0160amkov, Tadas Bl\u0117dis, J\u016brat\u0117 Senvaitien\u0117, Lina Jurnien\u0117, Silvija Luko\u0161ien\u0117, Algimantas Vaineikis, R\u016bta Kasiulyt\u0117, Virginija Li\u016bgien\u0117, Tomas Ru\u010dys,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Rasa Bieliauskait\u0117 -Mikolaitien\u0117, Lina Ona Adomaityt\u0117, Gediminas Mikelaitis, Ilona \u010ciu\u017eauskait\u0117, Indr\u0117 Polimaitien\u0117, Gust\u0117 Gulevait\u0117, Skirmant\u0117 Kvietkauskien\u0117, Irena Aleksien\u0117, Antanas Luk\u0161\u0117nas, Rima Rutkauskien\u0117, Gra\u017eina Gurnevi\u010di\u016bt\u0117, Jonas Aleksa, Vladislavas Kislovskis<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Organiser: Museum of Applied Arts and Design<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The project is funded by:\u202fMinistry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania<\/span>\u00a0
\nMedia partners:\u202fLRT, JCDecaux Lithuania<\/span>\u00a0
\nSponsor:\u202fBN Tekstil\u0117<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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