Leonardas Kazokas-Kazakevičius was a Lithuanian painter, born in Kaunas on July 27, 1905, and died there on August 15, 1981. He is buried in Petrašiūnai Cemetery.
Biography
During World War I, his family retreated to St. Petersburg, but in 1921, they returned to Kaunas, where he lived in Šančiai.
He became an apprentice at "Šimkūnas Photography", where he made color portraits from photos. That same year, he began taking drawing courses at the People's House and later enrolled to study sculpture.
From 1922 to 1929, he studied at the Kaunas Art School, and in 1944, he graduated externally from the Vilnius Art Institute.
In 1930, he and others founded the Independent Artists' Society, and from 1933, he was its chairman, actively participating in the society's exhibitions.
From 1934 to 1939, he taught at Kaunas 3rd Gymnasium. From 1940 to 1941, he taught drawing courses in Vilnius and was the head of the Kaunas Art Cooperative "Marginiai".
From 1944 to 1951, he taught at the Kaunas Applied and Decorative Arts Institute. From 1951 to 1961, he worked at the "Dailė" combine in Kaunas.
In 1961, a serious illness confined him to bed and took away his right hand; inspired, he painted with his left.
Works
Kazokas is known as a painter whose work combines French post-impressionism and Lithuanian sentiment. He painted portraits, still lifes, landscapes and thematic compositions in a distinctive expressionist style with subtle, nuanced colors. His noted works include:
"Self-Portrait" (1927)
"F. Kirša's Portrait" (1943)
"Director J. Miltinis' Portrait" (1958)
"Still Life" (1937)
"Nida Town" (1935)
"Bakūžė" (1935)
"Paris Street" (1937)
"Bridge in the Pyrenees Mountains" (1939)
"Poor Craftsman" (1939)
His early paintings are characterized by soft silver tones and a melancholic mood, while his later ones are more decorative with richer, more varied colors. Kazokas participated in exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad from 1929. Individual exhibitions were held in Kaunas in 1936, 1938, 1960, 1975 and 1980. Augustinas Savickas, Sofija Veiverytė, and Jadvyga Mozūraitė-Klemkienė are among his most famous students.
