Mikas J. Šileikis

Mikas J. Šileikis (1893-1987)
Lake Hamilin
Mid-20th century, al., 30,5 × 40,7
Signed. AK: M. J. Šileikis

Mikas Šileikis was one of the first Lithuanian artists to settle in America. In 1913, he came to the USA to escape the Russian tsarist conscription. He attended high school in Boston and later the private Belle Arti Art School. He graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1923. Šileikis took part in exhibitions of the Art Institute of Chicago, Indiana artists and Lithuanian emigrants. He won several prizes and awards for his works. He was one of the initiators of the Lithuanian Artists' Union and the founder of the Čiurlionis Gallery in Chicago. In 1957-1962, he was the head of the Čiurlionis Gallery and established a prize fund in his name.
Mikas Šileikis was called both an academic painter and a lyrical impressionist by his colleagues. Most of his artistic legacy consists of atmospheric landscapes. Sunny dunes, beaches, dense forests, parks, flower gardens and flowering gardens are perhaps his favourite themes. Šileikis painted freely and easily, with a rich, wide range of bright and vivid colours.