Bookplates in Lithuanian diaspora.

As soon as I was asked to speak on this subject, I began thinking about who belongs to the Lithuanian diaspora in this global world today. Distances and travel times are shrinking and borders between many countries barely exist. It was different in the not too distant past. It was not easy or fast for Europeans to reach the shores of America at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, or in the first decades of the 20th century. The "Iron Curtain" separating Eastern Europe from the West was an obstacle few conquered. During those times "diaspora" and "home country" were clearly delineated. It is not so now. In this article I will discuss the Lithuanian diaspora from the mid-19th century until the 1990s and introduce you to some Lithuanian artists and the bookplates they designed during that period.The best way to present art is to show art, and during my talk I will show many examples of bookplates created by emigre artists. However, such cannot be accomplished in this publication. I consider "Lithuanian bookplates" to be all bookplates designed by Lithuanians and artists of Lithuanian heritage, without regard for whom the bookplates were made. The most popular instruments for indicating book ownership through the first half of the 20th century were handmade inscriptions, typographic labels and book stamps. Terror and genocide of the Lithuanian people, especially the intelligentsia following Soviet occupation, resulted in close to 60,000 Lithuanians fleeing the country. These exiles left their native country not as emigres seeking a better economic life, but as political refugees who hoped to return home when the previous political order was restored. Many outstanding artists of the time were among the exiles. At the end of WWII, many refugees ended up as displaced persons (DP) in Allied-occupied Germany. The process of their re-settlement elsewhere dragged on until 1949. Cultural and creative life in the DP camps was very active. On the initiative of Vytautas K. Jonynas, aided by the French occupational forces, a school of art - Ecoledes Arts et Metiers - was established in Freiburg, Germany. Through its doors passed over 130 students who later helped to shape the next generation of Lithuanian artists in the New World. The Baltic University in exile was also established in Germany, in Hamburg/Pinneberg and functioned from 1946 to 1949. The development of printmaking, including bookplates, as well as the entire life of post-war emigration may be divided into two periods. The first was a comparatively short-term stay in Western European till the end of the 1940s. During this time most artists created homogenous art based on traditions learned at the Kaunas Art School and sharing traits of ethnicity. The second period began in the late 1940s with emigration mainly to the United States and Canada, with smaller numbers migrating to Australia. Younger artists gradually distanced themselves from the traditions of the first half of the century. They had been educated in Freiburg and in other Western schools and influenced by new art trends. The influence of abstract expressionism became particularly noticeable. I will introduce you to the creative activities and accomplishments from the Lithuanian diaspora in graphic art, focusing on bookplate art. My emphasis will be on artists who left the native country for the West at the end of the War as well as those of their later generations between 1944 and 1990. For example, V. K. Jonynas, Viktoras Petravičius, Paulius Augius, Telesforas Valius, all the alumni of Kaunas Art School have designed bookplates in their own styles. Valius employed colour and modern abstract motifs in his prints, including bookplates, and his work resulted in some of the finest graphic art of his generation in Canada. The other three artists preserved the traits of national identity more fully and fostered artistic traditions developed while still in Lithuania. To be noted are bookplates designed by graduates of the Freiburg School - Algirdas Kurauskas, Vytautas Ignas and Romas Viesulas. Viesulas became renowned worldwide for his art. The activities and bookplates of Zibuntas Miksys, Vytautas O. Virkau and his sister Henrietta Vepstas will be featured with special focus not only on the uniqueness of their art but on their contribution in popularizing bookplate art. Lastly, I will briefly touch on bookplate collectors, ex libris exhibits held, publication of books and other attempts to promote bookplate art