Antanas Samuolis

A life in small rooms and bright colors

Antanas Samuolis lived much of his life within the narrow confines of a wooden house on Vaisių Street in Kaunas. His room was a place of low ceilings and essential objects: a bed, a stool, a table, and an ever-present collection of easels, brushes, and paints. The air there often carried the heavy scent of semi-dried pigment. He moved through these spaces with a focus on what could be captured on canvas, even when resources were scarce. It was not uncommon for him to paint on the reverse side of an existing work to save on materials.

Born in the village of Puišiai, his early years took him from the Kovno Governorate to Moscow during the First World War, where he attended a railwaymen school. After serving in the Lithuanian Army between 1919 and 1921, he returned to Kaunas to study at the Art School. His training under Justinas Vienožinskis shaped his early years, but his eyes were often drawn to the images found in French newspapers. Through these printed pages, the works of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, and Rembrandt reached him, offering new ways to see light and form.

The language of the canvas

His paintings often present a contrast between the heavy, melancholic weight of daily life and the brightness of the natural world. He used thick, saturated colors to build landscapes and figures that felt grounded yet expressive. In works like Baltoji obelis and Geltona moteris, one sees a specific way of handling light and shadow. His style sometimes leaned into the grotesque or satirical, finding depth in the unusual.

The subjects he chose reflected both his surroundings and his inner observations:

• Self-portraits: Works like Self-portrait with a turntable from 1929 show tight, dark corners and reflections that suggest a space much larger than the physical room.
• Domestic scenes: In My Room (1934), he transformed a cramped, meager interior into a lively, brightly colored setting.
• Nature and life: Pieces such as Farmstead (1936) capture the textures of the Lithuanian landscape.

The final years in Switzerland

The later years were marked by physical struggle. As tuberculosis progressed, Samuolis sought treatment in sanatoriums, eventually moving to Switzerland in 1939. The outbreak of the Second World War prevented his return to Lithuania. He lived out his remaining time in Leysin, far from the apple trees of Žaliakalnis. He died in February 1942, living in poverty, and the exact location of his grave remains unknown.

Though his active creative period lasted only about seven years, leaving behind roughly fifty to sixty paintings, his presence remains felt in Lithuanian art. His works are held in collections such as the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum and the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. He remains a figure whose work is studied for its specific, intense way of looking at the world.