VK Jonynas is still an undiscovered expatriate artist in Lithuania

Druskininkai is associated with recreation and refreshment provided by the resort, but few people know that the city is no less important for its cultural heritage. Most of the time, Druskininkai is associated with MK Čiurlionis, whose house now houses the artist’s museum, but more famous artists also worked here.

A gallery has been established at home

After the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, the artist Vytautas Kazimieras Jonyns settled in Druskininkai, another expatriate painter and sculptor Antanas Mončys often visited and planned to settle there.

However, the house of VK Jonynos in Druskininkai often goes unnoticed, as the artist is somewhat less known in Lithuania. Having lived in France and the USA for decades, VK Jonyns returned to Lithuania only in 1989. The artist spent every summer in Druskininkai – organizing exhibitions, receiving visitors, and immersing himself in creativity. Jonyn’s house, currently a gallery, is located in the very center of Druskininkai, near Druskonis lake, and forms one building complex with MK Čiurlionis Museum.

VK Jonynas is primarily known in Lithuania for the illustrations created during the interwar period for K. Donelaitis’s “Metams”. They became classics of this genre. Created in a realistic, somewhat abstracted manner, but also attentive to details, VK Jonynos’ illustrations became inseparable from K. Donelaitis’s epic, and several generations grew up with them – both in the interwar period, in the Soviet Union, and in newly independent Lithuania.

Illustrated world classics

However, the fields of activity and achievements of VK Jonynos are much wider. The artist illustrated not only Lithuanian, but also world classics. After retiring to Germany, during the Second World War he illustrated such notable works as JV Goethe’s novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther”, and a little later V. Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. However, the most interesting aspect of VK Jonynas’s work is his calm, restrained style, in which neither the war experienced nor the horrors of leaving Lithuania seem to find an echo. On the contrary, the artist’s works radiate peace, and while still living in a refugee camp in Germany, he started organizing an art school. This school is one of the most important achievements of VK Jonynas, as it trained a core of artists from the Lithuanian diaspora.

in 1951 VK Jonyns leaves for the USA. Here he teaches at the Catan-Rose Art Institute, later at Fordham University. in 1955 establishes a church art studio with his student Donald Shepherd. He also starts working as a sculptor and stained glass artist. Speaking about life in emigration, VK Jonynas remains optimistic: “Has our creativity become nationalized while living in foreign lands?” I dont think so. In this way we have enriched ourselves. And with such artistic diversity, we add to the nation’s cultural treasure. Would we have topped it up too if we hadn’t left? I think it’s better that we left though. And it’s better that we can come back.”

Even after leaving for the United States, VK Jonyns maintains his unique style. He was not interested in the latest trends in art – pop art, rejection of classical proportions and plot, transition to completely abstract art. Both in Germany and in the USA, the artist maintains a similar light, classical style – the stained glass windows, interiors, and carvings of churches he creates are closer to the first half of the twentieth century than to the time of his life. In exile, VK Jonyns created the interiors of more than 300 churches, as well as the sculptural composition for the Vatican Pavilion at the World Exhibition in New York in 1964. A few years later, VK Jonyns also became famous with eight reliefs for the chapel of Lithuanian martyrs of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

He stood out for his artistic attitude

So, although VK Jonynas is less known in Lithuania due to the decades he spent in exile, he is one of the most original, globally recognized Lithuanian artists. VK Jonynas stands out for his artistic attitude in the 20th century. in the panorama of the second half, after the survival of two world wars and two totalitarian systems, the cultural world in Europe largely abandoned traditional forms of thinking as belonging to an era that led to unprecedented thought atrocities. However, VK Jonyns seems not to be participating in this mass disappointment with man and humanist European culture. During the war years, he illustrates classic works of European literature, and later creates by drawing inspiration from the classical cultural canon, interprets it, plays with it, but does not give it up.

Thus, a visit to the VK Jonynos gallery in Druskininkai can become a good opportunity to enrich your summer vacation not only with the recreation offered by the resort, but also with high-level art. In the gallery, you can view expositions from various periods of the artist’s work – wood carvings, stamps created for various occasions, watercolors, stained glass, church models. The exhibition space is authentic, designed according to the fashions of the last decade of the last century, here you can also see the office of VK Jonynos, where he received guests. So for those looking for something to add to their visit to Druskininkai, the artist’s gallery will be a great discovery.

Augustas KALINAUSKAS

“Tourist Guide” photo