Antanas Gudaitis: tekstai ir vaizdai

LTAntanas Gudaitis – vienas iškiliausių XX amžiaus lietuvių dailininkų, tarpukaryje formavusių moderniosios nacionalinės tapybos principus ir juos plėtojusių sovietinėje Lietuvoje. Jo kūryba yra tarp ryškiausių koloristinės lietuvių tapybos apraiškų, įgijusių lyrinio ekspresionizmo pavadinimą. Ši knyga apie kūrėją, pedagogą, kultūros veikėją, laisvą žmogų, oriai gyvenusį jam skirtą laiką dramatiškomis aplinkybėmis, kurios nepavergė jo, nesugniuždė, kaip nebūtų pavergusios ir jokios kitos. [Leidėjo anotacija]

ENAntanas Gudaitis together with the Ars group made a leap into the avant-garde of the Lithuanian art scene in 1932 and stayed there for almost half a century. It would be an understatement to say that he was one of the most prominent Lithuanian painters. Several generations of artists saw him as a symbolic figure embodying the basic concepts of twentieth-century art - freedom, modernity, and national identity. In the Vilnius Art Institute in the Soviet times, one did not have to take classes under this professor. According to Saulė Kisarauskienė, he influenced others by his example only. Few could resist his charisma. Some obediently followed in his footsteps (Gudaitis had a great many epigones), others tried to defy his authority, rebelled and looked for other ways of painting. Gudaitis should be attributed to those extraordinary personalities who not only opposed but also united people, periods of time and ideas, and gave continuity to the changeable course of Lithuanian history. True, he was neither a talented organizer, insightful or flexible negotiator (like Jonas Švažas), nor an industrious and dedicated person acting in various fields of art, science and public life (like Vincas Kisarauskas). On the contrary, the artist often acted impulsively and frequently made contradictory and not always polite statements. Despite all that, his spontaneous individuality attracted people, and he constantly found himself in the centre of important cultural events. [From the publication]