Art Studies in the Context of Power Relations in Lithuania, 1940–1953: The Case of the Activities and Closure of Kaunas Applied and Decorative Art Institute

The main purpose of this report is to discuss the influence of political power on art studies in Lithuania and the creative work of artists from 1940 to 1953. It will be based on the destruction of the Kaunas Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts, which is little known to art historians. After the Second World War, this institute actually followed the traditions of Kaunas Art School (1922–1940): that was the reason for its closure in 1951. The closure was officially called the reorganisation and continuation of art studies in Vilnius.

The post-war ideological content and power of the government acted in the study process. However, in essence, educators were guided by their modernist attitudes and did not accept Soviet directives. The report will try to show how political power has corrected art studies and changed the work of mature artists.

This article raises a question about the cost of adaptation and resistance in life and creation. The idea is that the destruction of an art institution is possible, but it is impossible to completely destroy the art school tradition. These and other similar issues will be addressed in the article, based on archival documents and examples of works by several different generations of artists – Vytautas Kairiūkštis (1891–1961), Liudas Truikys (1904–1987), Zenonas Varnauskas (1923–2010).