On 28 July 1932, the young twenty-two-year-old artist and caricaturist Lazaris Kaganas made his debut with his first solo show in the hall of the Palanga Secondary School. Among the large crowd of visitors, perhaps the most prominent interwar Lithuanian star stood out – the opera soloist Kipras Petrauskas. He was not just an ordinary participant but the official host of the exhibition’s opening ceremony. The journalist Antanas Steponaitis, who worked at the editorial office of the magazine Lietuvos pliažas, also played a major role in organising the event. The exhibition was met with great acclaim and helped launch Kagan’s professional career.

Among the caricaturists and cartoonists of interwar Lithuania, Kaganas stood out for his business-like approach to his creative work and great ambition. He was one of a handful of Lithuanian artists who deliberately sought to gain fame abroad. He was popular with the public, while critics offered more mixed or controversial assessments. Kaganas never took part in group exhibitions and preferred working alone. Through his caricatures, he had the opportunity to meet many well-known and influential figures of interwar Lithuania, and his chosen mild, non-biting style helped maintain good relations and avoid potential conflicts. His cartoons in the press tended to lack sharpness, rarely engaging with global events and focusing instead on the realities of Lithuania, particularly Kaunas. One of Kagan’s favourite subjects, which he returned to repeatedly, was sports and athletes. Of the hundreds of caricatures and cartoons he created, only a small fraction has survived. The periodical press of interwar Lithuania – and beyond – remains the most important and comprehensive source for reconstructing his life and work.

The first exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Kagan features cartoons and caricatures collected from various Lithuanian archival and memory institutions, as well as private individuals. The exhibits have been lent by Lithuanian Archives of Literature and Art, Lithuanian Central State Archive, Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Kaunas Regional State Archive, Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum, Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum, Kaunas City Museum, Vytautas the Great War Museum, A. Baranauskas and A. Vienuolis-Žukauskas Memorial Museum, Samogitian Museum “Alka,” Biržai Regional Museum “Sėla.”

Photos: Inesa Milk, NML

Organizer

National Museum of Lithuania

Media partner

Delfi

Creative team:

Curator – Evelina Bukauskaitė
Coordinator – Nijolė Laužikienė
Architect – Povilas Vincentas Jankūnas
Graphic designers – Jurga Karosaitė, Justinas Dadonas
Technology designer – Arvydas Repšys
Event and education coordinators – Algina Vainilavičienė, Jurga Sutkutė
Editor – Nijolė Deveikienė
Translator – Monika Kisliakovaitė–Čaplikienė
Communications coordinator – Akvilė Matulionytė

Thank you:

Memorial Museum of Antanas Baranauskas and Antanas Vienuolis-Žukauskas
Biržai Region Museum „Sėla“
Kaunas City Museum
Kaunas Regional State Archive
Lithuanian Central State Archives
Lithuanian Archives of Literature and Art
Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania
Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum
Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum
M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art
Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History
Vytautas the Great War Museum
Samogitian Museum „Alka“