Juozas Zikaras

Sculptor and teacher. Born on 18 November 1881 in Panevėžys County, committed suicide on 10 November 1944 in Kaunas. From 1904 to 1906, he attended the Vilnius Drawing School and the Józef Montwiłł Drawing Classes in Vilnius. From 1906 to 1916, he studied at the Drawing School of the Art Promotion Society in Saint Petersburg, and took sculpture classes at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Having finished his studies, Zikaras worked as a teacher in Petrograd, from 1919 to 1928 – in Panevėžys, from 1928 to 1940, taught sculpture at the Kaunas Art School, after 1940 – at the Kaunas Institute of Applied and Decorative Art, and from 1944, was a professor. In 1932–1938, he was the chairman of the Lithuanian Artists’ Society. His early work is distinguished by the influence of symbolism and impressionistic modelling. His later sculptures are realistic. Zikaras created busts and bas-relief portraits of public and cultural figures, as well as monuments. He also created relief figurative compositions, decorative sculptures for interiors, medals, and illustrated books. The Juozas Zikaras Memorial Museum is open in Kaunas.

Reference: Académie de Vilna. VILNIUS DRAWING SCHOOL 1866–1915. Exhibition Catalogue. Compiled by dr. J. Širkaitė, Vilnius 2017, P. 356.