Kuzminskis, Ionas Mikolo

Born Dec. 1 (14), 1906, in Betygala, in present-day Raseiniai Raion, Lithuanian SSR. Soviet graphic artist. People’s Artist of the USSR (1965); corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1970). Became a member of the CPSU in 1951.

From 1927 to 1933, Kuzminskis attended the Kaunas School of Art. He became the chairman of the administrative board of the Artists’ Union of the Lithuanian SSR in 1958. Kuzminskis’ work is characterized by a creative use of the traditions of Lithuanian popular prints, by tense tonal relations, and by the diversity and suppleness of expressive brushwork (the series Vilnius, engravings on wood, linoleum, and imitation leather, 1942–57; On the Motifs of Lithuanian Folk and Revolutionary Songs, engravings on wood, begun in 1960, awarded the State Prize of the Lithuanian SSR in 1967). In 1944, Kuzminskis began teaching at the Art Institute of the Lithuanian SSR in Vilnius, receiving a professorship there in 1957. A member of the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party (since 1963), he was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, two other orders, and a medal.