Painting as Existential Experience: the Work of the Painter Rimvidas Jankauskas-Kampas

The aim of the article is to study the life and creative work of the famous Lithuanian artist Rimvidas Jankauskas-Kampas in the context of socio-cultural phenomena of the late 20th century. Results. Paintings of Rimvidas Jankauskas-Kampas (1957–1993) give an impression of intriguing, temperamental, obscure and enigmatic creative work. The artist lived for a short time, as his life ended unexpectedly when he was only thirty-five years old. The painter is strongly etched in the memory of his contemporaries, and his personality, as well as creative work are intertwined with things that may not even exist. Nowadays, a lot of people talk about Rimvidas Jankauskas-Kampas and his paintings. This bright personality achieves more and more colourful tones, and is vividly portrayed. Art historians are interested in his artistic legacy. The artistic work of this painter remains a subject of interest and discussion among artists and art critics. It is fought over at public auctions, and in the shadow of the art market. After graduating from the Vilnius Art Institute (now the Vilnius Academy of Arts), the young artist was thrust into a period of political change. The liberation of Lithuania from the Soviet Union meant new opportunities and creative freedom for him and other artists. Scientific novelty. This article is the first attempt to analyse in detail the oeuvre of Rimvidas Jankauskas-Kampas, as during the period of political changes, his paintings became a symbol of creative freedom. Conclusions. In fact, this outstanding artist brought many innovations to Lithuanian painting. The painter intuitively found a new concept of abstract painting in Lithuania. His main idea was to improvise freely on a very large canvas, and to paint nature alla prima. Free colour improvisations in his work only appeared after long sessions in painting plein air workshops. Rimvidas Jankauskas-Kampas stood out because he did not care about subtle colour nuances, or even for the whole expressive colourist school of Lithuanian painting. His abstractions are like a short and precise message spoken aloud.