Brone Mockunas - my paintings

 

'I naturally loved beauty'

-  Interview in Voruta [Lithuanian newspaper]; 1997 Nr 33, p11

 Brone Mockunas (nee Žaranskytė) - born 1918.08.03 in Lithuania, died 2011.01.28 in Australia

 

'As well as literature I was interested in art. I became especially interested while at high school in Panevežys, where our art teacher Voicechavičius [the artist Jonas Voicechavičius - Vaitys 1903-1963] fascinated us with colours and modern art.' 

While studying at Vilnius University Brone met Elena Kepalas (1920-2006), who later became known in Australia and the USA as an expressionist dancer, sculptor, poet and modernist painter. They remained firm friends for life. The photo above is from 1945 at the Dillingen refugee camp in Germany - Elena Kepalas on the left with Jonas and Brone Mockunas.

At home in Adelaide in 1995, Brone with her painting on the left (untitled, 1993, on the theme of Lithuanian independence regained) and Elena Kepalas' painting on the right (Crucifiction, c 1953) which was painted in the Mockunas family garage in Adelaide but now hangs in Vilnius, Lithuania.

In 1977 Brone began attending painting classes in Adelaide, choosing oil paints as her preferred medium. Her tutors included Robert Hannaford, Malcolm Carbins and Stewart Game. The image above shows examples of her early works from 1981 and 1983.

First solo exhibition, 1984 in Adelaide. 37 works exhibited - realistic Australian and Lithuanian landscapes, still lifes, a few portraits.

Brone exhibited at the 1984, 1986 and 1988 Australian Lithuanian Festivals in Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide. She also participated in Royal South Australian Society of Arts exhibitions.

An afternoon painting with her friend and fellow artist from Melbourne Irena Jokubauskas (1920- )

Brone's second solo exhibition, 1988 in Adelaide, with 35 works exhibited - landscapes, flowers and portraits. 

'Over the past four years the artist's creative style as well as her technique have clearly undergone a change. Recalling her exhibition in Adelaide in 1984 it seems that Brone Mockunas' works were then more realistic and restrained. Today we see that her creativity emanates more from her imagination, the use of colour is bolder, the lines softer - the works are more interesting.' Janina Vabolienė, Mūsų Pastogė 1988.9.12. 

During the first decade of her work Brone drew much inspiration for her paintings from Australian scenes - in particular enjoying visits to locations such as Arkaroola and Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges (South Australia) in 1983 - as well as nostalgic memories of her Lithuanian homeland. However from the late 1980s she was more influenced by the struggle for independence in Lithuania.

 

Untitled, c1990 Lithuanian folk motifs. Over the course of the 1980s Brone's style developed more expressionism, with broader interpretations. 

 

Brone's last exhibition was in Lithuania, at the 4th World Žemaičių [Samogitian] Art Exhibition in 2003 in Plungė. She lived in Lithuania from 2001 to 2005 and displayed two works at this exhibition - the Wayside Cross and the Angel of Freedom.

The Lithuanian Art Museum holds four representative works by Brone Mockunas - Oasis (1986); Haystacks (1986); Sunset in the Mountains (1994); and the Flinders Ranges (1994).

'Oasis shows how she had begun to omit distracting details and focus on essentials; the clump of trees is coloured in high key and the remaining, plain landscape serves as a neutral background and emphasises the dominant subject.'

- Genovaitė Kazokas, Lithuanian Artists in Australia 1950-1990, p248