Vladas Meškėnas
Vladimir Meškėnas | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 2020 (aged 103–104)[1] Sydney, Australia |
Occupation | portrait painter |
Vladimir Meškėnas (17 February 1916 – 2020) was an Australian[2] expressionist painter and portraitist in oil and pastel,[3] who has been a frequent Archibald Prize finalist.
Brief biography
Meskenas was born in February 1916 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan in the Caucasus where his father Juozas had sought refuge during World War I. In 1921, the family returned to their native Lithuania where Vladimir's father obtained work in the Transport Department.[4]
In 1934, Vladimir left high school and enlisted in the Lithuanian Air Force, however he decided later to pursue an artistic career, and he became a freelance artist. When the Germans invaded Lithuania during World War II he and his wife were forced to work in Germany.[4]
As
It was asserted in a 1979 issue of Lituanus, a Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences, that he "and all Lithuanian artists of Sydney" at the time were members of "Aitvaras", established in 1950. This included
Career and awards
Although Meskenas had no formal training, his pencil drawing, Mother's Sorrow, 1941 gained an award in Lithuania for the best depiction of the atrocities of the
One of Meskenas's earliest portraits in Australia was Family Portrait, 1953, which won First Prize at the Australia-wide Art Exhibition at Mark Foy's Gallery in Sydney.[3][4]
Meskenas's 1961 portrait of fellow artist
In 1976 Meskenas received the Sir Charles Lloyd Jones Prize at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney for his portrait of Donald Grant.[4]
His portrait Donald Friend 1989 won the Archibald's People's Choice Award in 1989.[10] His portrait of Dr Victor Chang was a finalist in the 1991/92 Archibald, as was his 1993 portrait of Professor Fred Hollows.
Meskenas painted many of his fellow-artists including Weaver Hawkins, William Dobell, Russell Drysdale, Lloyd Rees, Elwyn Lynn, John Olsen, Donald Friend, Adomas Varn and Michael Kmit.[4][11]
In 1993 he successfully sued for libel Edmund Capon, director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, for calling his portrait of businessman Rene Rivkin "... a rotten picture ... no good at all ...".[12]
He was a finalist for the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize in 1990 for his portrait Donald Friend, and in 1992 for David Foster O.A.M..
In 2006 Meskenas received damages for infringement of
Represented
His portrait Sir
References
- ^ Vladimir Meskenas 1916–2020
- ISBN 9780521807890.
- ^ ISBN 0-86832-019-6.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kazokas, GE (1992). "Lithuanian artists in Australia 1950–1990: Vols. I". PhD thesis. University of Tasmania. pp. 113–119. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
- ^ "Passenger list, Protea, arrived Sydney 6 June 1949".
- ^ a b "Vaclovas Ratas, LITUANUS". Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences. Summer 1979.
- ^ Finalists for 1961, Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of NSW
- ^ McCulloch, Alan (1968). Encyclopedia of Australian Art. Hutchinson of London.
- ^ "N.S.W. Artist Wins Prize". The Canberra Times. ACT. 11 June 1963. p. 3. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
- ^ Winner: People's Choice 1989, Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of NSW
- ISBN 0867468920.
- ^ Kenyon, Andrew (1996). "Defamation, Artistic Criticism and Fair Comment" (PDF). Sydney Law Review. 18: 193: 194.
- ^ "Australian Copyright Cases: 2006–".
- Federal Magistrates' Court(Australia)
- ^ John Yu. "Dods, Sir Lorimer Fenton (1900–1981)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. pp. 323–324.
- ^ "Catalog entry for: Portrait of Desiderius Orban, 1986". State Library of New South Wales.
- ^ "Max Schubert portrait".
Sources
- McCulloch, Alan Encyclopedia of Australian Art Hutchinson of London 1968