LRT and MO Museum bring you a series of videos presenting 20 key Lithuanian artists of the 20th century.
Marija Teresė Rožanskaitė (1933–2007)
Winning acclaim for women artists was difficult in the Soviet period.
Marija Teresė Rožanskaitė is undoubtedly one of the boldest women artists, captivating for her work and her personal story alike.
In 1972, Rožanskaitė finished an assemblage titled ‘1941’. In it, angular, broken human shapes are looking through a crack in a train car.
It tells the story of Lithuanian deportations, tragic lives and trampled humanity.
It is also an autobiographical story about the artist's family. In 1941, her family was deported and her father executed.
An entry in Rožanskaitė's diary, “I must love this life that makes me suffer”, attests to how personal and sensitive her works are.
Brave themes as well as her artistic style put her ahead of the time. The artist would diligently splice her canvasses and layer them, giving the impression of multiple paintings in one artwork.
Unlike many other artist, Rožanskaitė defied the dominant style of painting at the time. Her works stand out with broken, distorted shapes, photorealistic elements and intense colours.
Appropriately, Rožanskaitė has been called the Lithuanian Frida Kahlo, a free and brave artist at odds with her time.
LRT English
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