Vytautas Kasiulis


Vytautas Kasiulis was a Lithuanian painter of the School of Paris, one of the most famous Lithuanian artists who became exiles in Paris after the annexation of their country by the Soviet Union.

Biography

In Kaunas, Kasiulis participated beginning in 1942 in several group expositions and had a solo exhibition at the Vytautas Magnus Museum of Culture in 1943. He left the following year for Germany, where he taught at the Fine Arts School in Fribourg-en-Brisgau, and had several solo expositions in Kiel, Bad Siegelberg, Hamburg and Fribourg.
After he arrived in Paris in 1948, his first exposition was held at Raymond Duncan's gallery in 1949. Starting in 1954, he also showed his work outside France, notably in Berlin, Copenhagen, Geneva, Stockholm, Cleveland, New York, and Toronto. He also participated in several salons, including the Salon des indépendants.
He was buried in the Pantin cemetery in Paris. In 2018 reburied in Antakalnis Cemetery.

Work

Titled Les Jardins du Paradis de Vytautas Kasiulis , a retrospective of more than 150 Kasiulis works, many on loan from his widow Bronė Kasiulienė, was presented December 2009 to February 2010 at the Lithuanian Art Museum in Vilnius. Bronė Kasiulienė offered them the collection at the time if they would create a Vytautas Kasiulis Museum.
In May and June 2010, works by five artists of Lithuanian origin exiled in Paris – Arbit Blatas, Vytautas Kasiulis, Antanas Moncys, Pranas Gailius and Žibuntas Mikšys – were presented to the Žilinskas Art Gallery in Kaunas.