Biography Vincentas Gecas was born in 1931, Mazeikiai City, Lithuania. In 1951-1957, the painter studied at Vilnius Institute of Fine Arts. Lives and works in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

In 1968, Vincentas Gecas was granted a State Premium. In 1969, during the first Art biennial in the Baltic States, Vincentas Gecas was conferred a laureate prize. In 1969-1974, he worked as a Vice-Rector of the State Institute of Fine Arts. In 1970, Vincentas Gecas was conferred a degree of Associate Professor. In 1974-1989, the artist held the position of the Rector of State Institute of Fine Arts. In 1980, Vincentas Gecas was conferred a degree of Professor. In 1972, during the second Art triennial in the Baltic States, Vincentas Gecas was conferred a laureate prize. In 1974, Vincentas Gecas was conferred a emeritus art worker’s name. Since 1959, Vincentas Gecas has been participating in national, international and global exhibitions.

Paintings

Vincentas Gecas and other Lithuanian artists who have started their creative path in the late Sixties are the first post-war period art reformers. They consolidated an individual creative manner and the authority of purely artistic aesthetical nature.

One of the first art works that raised interest in Vincentas Gecas was notable for its naturalism, vitality and sonorous colours depicted in the fixed fragment of reality.

In the beginning of the Seventies when Modernist movement was on its peak Vincentas Gecas plunged into plastic experiments trying to achieve particular means of expression.

The reality in the earliest works of Vincentas Gecas is revealed by unexpected fragments, crystallised forms and suggestive colourful structures. Some of the artist’s paintings were about to move to an abstract style though motifs always stayed recognisable.

Vincentas Gecas’ art works were strongly influenced by his practice in Italy in the early Seventies.

Being open to all life impressions, Vincentas Gecas observed and fixed the new intriguing social environment, which greatly affected the changes of his artistic expression. This creative period of Vincentas Gecas was based on modern understanding of reality, distinguishing the scenes of life, daring deformations and generalisation. All his paintings reflected modes of existence, rough commonness and street life.

Vincentas Gecas is one of very few analysts of Modern City. His creative work of the Seventies was compared to civil, socially engaged trend of Neo-realism, which was prevailing in Italy.

In the topical compositions of Vincentas Gecas, a human being is usually a typical participant of the situation, an actor. The portraits, on the contrary, reverberate a close link between personality and characteristic. All people in the portraits shine with great vitality. That shows Vincentas Gecas’ interest in personalities and temperaments of his characters. The artist uses generalising style of painting, which includes dark line. Some of his works are based on traditional portrait picture that reminds the composition where you can feel the power of humanistic thinking.

In the later works of the painter, the priority is given to the individual elements of the grotesque. All the characters in the portraits are full of life, human feelings, and passion, based on individuality. It is obvious that Vincentas Gecas is an important figure in Lithuanian art. His creative work is famous for its bright, juicy, contrasting colours that shine as precious stones or bright posters. The colouring skills of the painter are perfectly shown in Vincentas Gecas’ urbanscapes, landscapes and still-lives.

Vincentas Gecas is a unique artist in contemporary Lithuanian art. His widely developed figurative style is proximate to an international context of realistic art. However, this style has not been followed and developed within the borders of Lithuania.

Exhibitions

Vincentas Gecas takes part in various exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad – Estonia (Tallinn), Poland (Gdansk), Russia (Moscow), Italy (Sophia), Germany (Berlin), Holland, etc.

Collections

Museums in Lithuania and private collectors from foreign countries – Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, Russia, the USA, Canada, Armenia, Kirghizia have acquired some of his paintings.