Artist Vaclovas Miknevičius
Artist Vaclovas Miknevičius

Summary/Abstract: Vaclovas Miknevičius (1910 – 1989) is esteemed as one of the pioneers of the professional ceramic art in Lithuania. He studied this field of art during the interwar period in Kaunas Art School. Born in Zanenai village (Moletai district), he spent and created most of his life in Kaunas. A prolific artist throughout his lifetime, he created numerous models for serial production, along with independent exhibition pieces and ceramic objects in monumental scale for indoor spaces. Because of his inventive nature, the artist was constantly improving production processes and experimenting with various compositions of clay and glaze. He significantly contributed to the Lithuanian ceramic industry. He also dedicated considerable time to art education, organization of exhibitions and social outreach. The creative career of Miknevičius falls into three stages of development The first stage (1933 – 1958) was strongly influenced by the form and ornamentation of Lithuanian folk pottery. However, vases, tableware sets and decorative sculptures created from 1958 through 1970 show a modern-design-inspired style, more restrained and marked by stylized décor together with the search for expressive textures. During his last stage of creative work, from 1970 until 1989, the artist turned to monumental-scale projects integrated into architecture as well as ceramic sculpture pieces. A large part of his art is kept in the Lithuanian Art Museum, the National museum of Lithuania in Vilnius, the National Art Museum of M. K. Čiurlionis, and in private collections of his family.

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