Gražina Didelytė (1938–2007) was a Lithuanian printmaker, regarded as a classic of the Lithuanian ex libris, who trained as a book illustrator at the State Art Institute. She made around 700 bookplates, won first prizes at the European Ex Libris Congresses in Bled and Lugano, and is represented in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. Her delicate etched line evokes Lithuanian nature, folklore, mythology and poetry, and later exile and resistance.
Gražina Didelytė (1938–2007) is regarded as a classic of the Lithuanian ex libris and one of the most refined Lithuanian printmakers of the second half of the 20th century. Born in Kaunas, she first studied chemistry and then architecture at the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute before turning to art. In 1961–1967 she studied at the State Art Institute in Vilnius (now the Vilnius Academy of Arts), qualifying as a book illustrator. From 1971 she was a member of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association, and from 1978 she devoted herself entirely to creative work. Over her lifetime she created around 700 bookplates for Lithuanian and foreign personalities – artists, writers, educators and thinkers – capturing not only their interests but also their character. Her delicate, elegant line is instantly recognisable; she is said to have engraved her etchings with an ordinary sewing needle. She won first prizes at the European Ex Libris Congresses in Bled (1974) and Lugano (1978), as well as medals at the ex libris biennial in Malbork. Her work is inspired by the Lithuanian landscape, folklore, mythology and poetry, and from the time of the national revival also by themes of exile and resistance. She illustrated books by Justinas Marcinkevičius, Kazys Bradūnas and other poets. Didelytė is a museum artist whose works are held by the Lithuanian National Museum of Art and the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art.
