Teisutis 'Joe' Zikaras (often spelled "Tesutis") (5 July 1922 – 10 May 1991) was an Australian sculptor born in

Panevėžys Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...

, Lithuania. He earned a diploma at the School of Fine Arts,

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

, Lithuania, where his father Juozas, creator of Lithuania's famous Liberty statue, was Head. He left Lithuania after its takeover by Russia and spent two years 1946–48 teaching drawing and sculpture at a campus of the

École des Arts et Métiers École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Sav ...

Freiburg, Germany Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

, an art school for Lithuanian refugees where Aleksandras Marčiulionis was a principal. He was one of the artists who contributed to the 1949 Lithuanian Art Exhibition held in Freiburg with Paulius Augius, Juozas Bakis,

Alfonsas Dargis Alfonsas Dargis (12 May 1909, in Reivyčiai, Mažeikiai parish – 13 January 1996, in Friedrichshafen, Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the ...

, Povilas Kaufmanas, Viktoras Petravicius, Vaclovas Ratas, Adolfas Vaicaitis, Adolfas Valeska, Telesforas Valius,

Liudas Vilimas Liudas Vilimas (September 15, 1912 in Kušlėnai, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) – August 22, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio) was a Lithuanian painter. His works included book illustrations, theatrical decorations, paintings, postal stamps, win ...

and Viktoras Vizgirda. He was accepted by Australia as a 'DP' (

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...

), arriving in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1949. From 1952 to 1956, he was employed as a sculptor on the Melbourne War Memorial. He proceeded to become Lecturer in Sculpture at the

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

. His surviving commissioned work includes the sculpture for the courtyard of the ETA Foods Factory in

Braybrook, Victoria Braybrook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Braybrook recorded a population of 9,682 at the . Braybrook is bounded in th ...

. He was a member of the

Victorian Sculptors' Society The Victorian Sculptors' Society was an arts organisation formed in Victoria, Australia in 1948. History The society had two predecessors: *The Yarra Sculptors' Society was founded in 1898 by Margaret Baskerville and her husband Douglas Richards ...

and with Anita Aarons,

Ola Cohn Ola Cohn (born Carola Cohn; 25 April 1892 – 23 December 1964) was an Australian artist, author and philanthropist best known for her work in sculpture in a modernist style and famous for her ''Fairies Tree'' in the Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne. ...

, Vincas Jolantas,

Inge King Ingeborg Viktoria "Inge" King (; 26 November 1915 – 23 April 2016) was a German-born Australian sculptor. She received many significant public commissions. Her work is held in public and private collections. Her best known work is ''Forward S ...

, Julius Kane,

Clifford Last Clifford Frank Last OBE (13 December 1918 – 20 October 1991) was an English sculptor, the son of Nella Last, author of a World War II diary on which the TV film ''Housewife, 49'' was based. Early life Clifford Last was the younger son ...

Clement Meadmore Clement Meadmore (9 February 1929 – 19 April 2005) was an Australian-American sculptor known for massive outdoor steel sculptures. Biography Born Clement Lyon Meadmore in Melbourne, Australia in 1929, Clement Meadmore studied aeronautical ...

, Andor Meszaros,

Lenton Parr Thomas Lenton Parr AM (11 September 1924 – 8 August 2003) was an Australian sculptor and teacher . Sculptor Born in East Coburg, Victoria, Lenton Parr spent eight years in the Royal Australian Air Force (Svc No. A33223) before enrolling to st ...

, Günther Stein, Tina Wentcher, Zikaras exhibited at

Brummels Gallery Brummels Gallery in South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia, was a commercial gallery established by David Yencken in 1956 to exhibit contemporary Modernist Australian painting, sculpture and prints, but after a period of dormancy became best known in ...

in ''Twelve Melbourne Sculptors'' (1957), opened by

Neil Clerehan Neil Clerehan (29 December 1922 – 10 November 2017) was an Australian architect and architectural writer. Early life and training Neil Clerehan was born in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton, Victoria, Brighton on 29 December 1922. He developed ...

(who himself held a sculpture show there that year, when the gallery separately showed drawings by Zikaras. Around 1960, he joined with

Vincas Jomantas Vincas is a Lithuanian language, Lithuanian masculine given name. People named Vincas include: *Vincas Grybas (1890–1941), Lithuanian sculptor *Vincas Kudirka (1858-1899), Lithuanian poet and physician, author of the Lithuanian National Anthem ...

and

to form a splinter group which exhibited together as the ' Centre Five'. In 1967 they split from the Society, which never recovered from the departure of so many of its prominent members. According to Australian art critic Alan McCulloch "He was raised in the tradition of peasant wood-carvings, many of which were hung on trees. This influence accounts for the flatness, the two-dimensional quality in the work not only of Zikaras but also in that of many other Lithuanian sculptors."''Encyclopedia of Australian Art'' Alan McCulloch, Hutchinson of London 1968

References

External links

Abstract 'Moon' sculpture and fountain in central Melbourne

McClelland Gallery sculpture park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zikaras, Teisutis 1991 deaths 1922 births Lithuanian sculptors 20th-century Australian sculptors Modern sculptors People from Panevėžys Lithuanian expatriates in Germany Lithuanian emigrants to Australia