An artist in the dunes

Žmuidzinavičius was a passionate traveller, who loved Lithuania unconditionally. Because he was a traveller and a painter, we are reminded of the character of Česlovas Janušas, the famous Lithuanian seascape painter, portrayed in Žmuidzinavičius’ painting Artist in the Dunes (1943). ‘Painter Česlovas Janušas (1907–1993) was one of the most popular Lithuanian seascape painters in pre-war Lithuania and among the Lithuanian diaspora. Larger or smaller water bodies accompanied him throughout his entire life. Charmed by water elements, he devoted most of his career to this attractive and, at first sight, simple yet technically quite complicated genre of painting. The artist maintained, “Why do I like seascapes, why do I continuously paint the sea? Someone will say that this is the easiest thing, but this is what I think: do you want to paint the sea? You must read many books, have some idea about the wind, water, movement, quivering, mechanical forces, and to know why the waves turn, and also to observe the sea, the moon, moonlight, and sunset. (Jokubavičienė Kristina „The exhibition of painter, marinist Česlovas Janušas (1907-1993, USA) „Prie Baltijos ir prie Atlanto“).