Jewish Art Education in the Interwar Period and Studies at the Kaunas School of Art

Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37522/aaav.112.2024.197

Keywords:

art education, Jewish artists, Kaunas School of Art, Holocaust

Abstract

The article explores Jewish art education in interwar Lithuania and analyzes the differences between Jewish and Lithuanian art education, reconstructs the biographies and fates of Jewish students of the Kaunas School of Art, and identifies the goals and aspirations of their studies. The research answers the following questions: what kind of artistic education did interwar Lithuanian Jewish artists receive? Did the artistic education of Jewish artists differ from that of Lithuanians? How many Jewish artists studied at the Kaunas School of Art? What were the main motives of young Jews to study at the Kaunas School of Art? What are the fates of these young people? Answers to these questions were sought in Lithuanian and foreign archives and museums, as well as in the interwar Lithuanian press in Lithuanian, Russian, and Yiddish languages.

Author Biography

Vilma Gradinskaitė, Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Vilnius, Lithuania

is an art researcher and exhibition curator affiliated with the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. Since 1997, she has dedicated her research to Jewish history, culture, and heritage, including a fifteen-year tenure at the Vilnius Gaon Museum of Jewish History and ten years of teaching at the Vilnius Yiddish Institute and Vilnius University. She is a widely recognized as a leading authority on Eastern European Jewish art, regularly participating in international congresses, conferences, and seminars worldwide. She has published over sixty articles in Lithuanian, English, and Russian languages, along with several books on Jewish art.

Kauno meno mokyklos vaizdas, matomas pro M. K. Čiurlionio galerijos direktoriaus kabineto langą, Pauliaus Galaunės nuotrauka, XX a. 3 deš. Nacionalinis M. K. Čiurlionio dailės muziejus. Pauliaus Galaunės nuotr. / View of the Kaunas School of Art, seen from the office window of the director of the M. K. Čiurlionis Gallery, Photo by Paulius Galaunė, 1920s, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art

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Published

28/02/2023

How to Cite

Gradinskaitė, V. (2023). Jewish Art Education in the Interwar Period and Studies at the Kaunas School of Art: Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis. Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis, (112), 53–75. https://doi.org/10.37522/aaav.112.2024.197

Issue

No. 112 (2024): Art in a Modern City for a Modern State: Celebrating 100 Years of the Kaunas School of Art

Section

Articles

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