Vladislovas Žilius (1939–2012) was a Lithuanian printmaker, painter and sculptor whose print cycles “Vilnius Legends” and “Modus Vivendi” (1967) rank among the most modern Lithuanian graphic art of their time. After openly protesting against socialist realism in 1974, he emigrated to New York in 1976. His refined, partly decorative paintings, finely structured prints and later objects in wood, glass and metal draw on various forms of abstraction.
Vladislovas Žilius (1939–2012) was a Lithuanian printmaker, painter and sculptor who spent the second half of his life in New York. Born in Varsneliai near Šilalė, he graduated from the Telšiai School of Applied Art and, in 1964, from the Lithuanian State Art Institute in graphic art. In the 1960s he headed the art publications department of the Vaga publishing house and later became chief artist of the Mintis publishing house, designing book covers and illustrations. His print cycles “Vilnius Legends” and “Modus Vivendi” (both 1967) belong to the most modern Lithuanian graphic art of their time. As his work turned towards abstraction, it was increasingly ignored and condemned by the Soviet authorities; in 1974 he openly protested against the dogma of socialist realism and asked for permission to emigrate. In 1976 he left for the United States and settled in New York, where he worked for many years in advertising design. There he devoted himself mainly to painting, creating cycles such as “Black Corals” and “Flowers of Death”, and from 1995 also sculptural objects of wood, cast synthetic glass and metal. His refined, partly decorative painting and finely structured graphics are rooted in various forms of abstraction. He was buried in Kaltinėnai, Lithuania, and his works are held by the MO Museum in Vilnius and private collections.
