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Birutė Janina Grasilda Žilytė-Steponavičienė (2 June 1930 – 3 November 2024) was a Lithuanian graphic artist, book illustrator, painter, and educator.^[1]^[2]

Biography

Žilytė-Steponavičienė was born in Nainiškiai [lt], Panevėžys District on 2 June 1930.^[3] In 1956 she graduated from State Institute of Art (now Vilnius Academy of Arts). From 1963 to 1987 she taught at the Čiurlionis School of Art.^[1]

She was married to Algirdas Steponavičius [lt], painter, graphic artist, book illustrator and writer.^[4]

Žilytė-Steponavičienė died on 3 November 2024, at the age of 94.^[5]

Notable works

Pušelė sanatorium murals

In 2015 the murals in Valkininkai children's sanatorium "Pušelė" ("Little Pine Tree"),^[6] created together with her husband during 1969–1972, were included into the Lithuanian Registry of Cultural Values [lt]. On the occasion, the head of the regional Cultural Heritage department Margarita Janušonienė noticed that it is an important example of the cooperation of a duo of complementary artists and the consolidation of creative freedom against Soviet censorship and the regulation of art in public spaces.^[7]^[4] The murals, based on the motifs of Lithuanian folklore, are described as "one of the most remarkable works of Lithuanian modernist art of the second half of the 20th century". The original work is in a vandalized and neglected state. A digitally restored copy, based on photographs made in 2016-2018 was prepared by the Vilnius Gallery project, with the assistance of the artist. The reconstructed copy was printed on aluminium composite sheets, for exhibitions.^[8]^[9]

The mural paintings constitute 12 compositions of total area of about 110 m².^[7]

Book illustrations

In 1969 Birutė Žilytė was awarded the Golden Apple award at the Bratislava Children's Book Illustration Biennale for her illustrations for the 1967 edition of the poetry book Aukso sietelis (The Golden Sieve) by Janis Rainis.^[10]^[11]

Her illustrations for Aldona Liobytė's [lt] Pabėgusi dainelė (Runaway Song, 1966) and Pasaka apie narsią Vilniaus mergaitę ir galvažudį Žaliabarzdį (The Tale of a Brave Girl from Vilnius and Greenbeard the Killer, 1970) earned her the Lithuanian SSR State Award (1971).^[10]

Awards and decorations

1971: Lithuanian SSR State Award^[1]
1997: Knight's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas^[1]
1980. Meritorious Artist of Lithuanian SSR^[3]
2010: Culture and Arts Award of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania^[1]
2015: Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts, "for art and creativity for children that fosters high modern culture."^[2]^[12]
2020: Honorary Professor at the Vilnius Academy of Arts^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Birutė Žilytė", Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia
^ ^a ^b Nacionalinės premijos laureatė B. Žilytė: mano gyvenimą lydi atsitiktinumai"
^ ^a ^b PANEVĖŽIO ŠLOVĖS ALĖJA: ŽYMIAUSIEJI KRAŠTIEČIAI. BIRUTĖ JANINA GRASILDA ŽILYTĖ (STEPONAVIČIENĖ)
^ ^a ^b "Birutė Žilytė-Steponavičienė pasitinka 90-ąjį jubiliejų: pamačiusi vaivorykštę suprato – kurs tik ryškiai"
^ "Mirė žymi knygų iliustruotoja, dailininkė Birutė Žilytė-Steponavičienė". LRT (in Lithuanian). 3 November 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
^ Note: The location of the sanatorium is in the village of Naujieji Valkininkai [lt], formerly known as Valkininkai; not to be confused with the nearby city of Valkininkai.
^ ^a ^b "Valstybės saugomais paskelbti trys unikalūs kultūros paveldo objektai"
^ Valkininkų „Pušelės“ sienų tapyba: XX a. dailės paveldas skaitmeninėse laikmenose ("Mural painting in the Valkininkai Pušelė sanatorium: the twentieth-century artistic heritage on digital storage media"), Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis: Restauravimo laboratorija, Vilnius : Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla, 2019. vol. 92/93, p. 52–78.
^ Sienų tapyba Valkininkuose. Birutė Žilytė ir Algirdas Steponavičius, Vilniaus galerija
^ ^a ^b Erika Grigoravičienė, CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS, MO Museum
^ Janio Rainio poezijos knyga Aukso sietelis, 1967 Iliustratorė Birutė Žilytė (g. 1930)
^ Paskelbti 2015 m. Lietuvos nacionalinių kultūros ir meno premijų laureatai
^ "Pagerbtos dailininkė B. Žilytė-Steponavičienė ir rašytoja K. Sabaliauskaitė"

External Links

"Birutė Žilytė" at "Vilniaus galerija" website. Includes photographies of works, a biographical sketch, and quotes about Birutė Žilytė's creativity from books
Birutė Žilytė-Steponavičienė discography at Discogs