Juozas Zikaras ( lit. Juozas Zikaras ; November 6 ( 18 ), 1881 , p. Palyukai, now Panevezys district of Lithuania - November 10, 1944 , Kaunas ) - Lithuanian sculptor .
| Juozas Zikaras | |
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| Juozas zikaras | |
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| Date of Birth | November 18 (November 6 ) 1881 |
| Place of Birth | with. Palyukay, now Panevezys district |
| Date of death | November 10, 1944 (63 years old) |
| Place of death | Kaunas |
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Biography
He studied at the Drawing School of I.P. Trutnev and in the evening drawing classes of Jozef Montville in Vilna ( 1904 - 1906 ), then in St. Petersburg at the school of the Society for the Promotion of Arts ( 1907 - 1910 ). In 1910 he was admitted to the Academy of Arts in the sculpture department, where he studied under the guidance of professors G.R. Zaleman and V.A. Beklemishev .
After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1915, he began work on the graduation sculpture, but was mobilized into the army. His unfinished work “Mother” got to the exhibition of diploma works and in October 1916 Zikaras was awarded a diploma and a silver medal.
After demobilization, he taught in the schools of Petrograd. In 1918 he returned to Lithuania with his family. In 1918 - 1928 he taught at the gymnasium in Panevezys . Since 1928 he lived in Kaunas - he taught at the Kaunas School of Art ( 1928 - 1940 ) and at the Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts ( 1940 - 1944 ).
He was buried at the Pyatrashunsky cemetery in Kaunas. In 1972, a memorial museum was opened in the village of the sculptor in the village of Palyukai. In Kaunas, there is also a memorial museum in the house in which the sculptor lived.
Creativity
In Panevezys, he created several sculptures of a monumental nature (including the Statue of Liberty, 1922 ), bas-reliefs, sculptural portraits. The most prominent examples of his monumental and decorative sculptures are the statue of the “Knigonosha” (bronze, 1928–1939 ) in Kaunas and the “Atlanta” (bank in Panevezys , 1931 ).
He created a number of realistic sculptural portraits - busts of the writer Jonas Basanavicius (monument, bronze, 1930 ), historian Simonas Daukantas (monument, bronze, 1924 ), poet and composer Vincas Kudirka , poet Matas Grigonis , bas-reliefs - President Antanas Smetona , his wife Sofia Smetonene, Dr. Jonas Šlupas and others, also commemorative medals dedicated to the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great , Bishop Melchior Gedroits , writer Juozas Tumas-Vazhgantasa .
Zikaras is also the author of the tombstone of M.K. Čiurlionis (cement, bronze, 1931 ) at the Rasu cemetery in Vilnius . However, his most famous work is the Statue of Liberty in Kaunas in front of the Military Museum of Vytauas the Great. Established in 1928 , it was removed by the Soviet authorities from the memorial formed in the square in front of the museum and restored on February 16, 1989 , even before the formal declaration of the restoration of independence of Lithuania. The sculpture is depicted on the reverse of a banknote of 20 litas . A plaster replica of the statue is installed in the niche of the White Hall - the main ceremonial hall of the Presidency, the residence of the President of Lithuania in Vilnius.
He also created sculptures of Saints Peter and Paul, the Savior and others for the churches of Panevezys and the surrounding towns.
Coins of independent Lithuania ( 1918 - 1940 ) were minted according to models developed by Zikaras. He is also the author of the jubilee medal of the 10th anniversary of the Independence of Lithuania ( 1928 ) and the medal of excellent students of military service ( 1940 ).