About the Author

Rimantas Dichavičius

Vladislavas Rimantas Dichavičius was born on March 1, 1937, in the village of Grimzeliai in the Kelmė district, to a farming family. At the age of 8, the future artist was deported to Siberia near the Urals in the Perm region along with his parents and grandfather. On the way to exile, his mother passed away, followed later by his grandfather and father. Rimantas was left alone and ended up in an orphanage.

Rimantas at his childhood home in the village of Grimzeliai, which he visited for the first time after returning from exile. 1969.

Rimantas near Raseiniai.

After six years, his aunt came to Siberia, took him and two other Lithuanian orphaned children, and brought them back to their homeland. After returning from Siberia, Rimantas stayed with his aunt in Šiauliai and began attending a Russian school. Later, he was cared for by his older brother Jonas, who had avoided deportation.

1969.

In his youth, after acquiring a motorcycle, Rimantas would travel through villages and towns, photographing portraits and old ethnographic village scenes. Later, he would admit: “I find photography interesting. The eye needs to be caught by something strange and out of the ordinary. When you see the same thing everywhere, you almost stop seeing anything at all. A picture hanging on the wall is beautiful, but the process of its creation is even more fascinating.” This is how a collection of several thousand Lithuanian ethnographic photographs was born. Later, his famous series “Blossoms Among Blossoms” also took shape.

Photography was called a passion by R. Dichavičius—it’s something you see and want to show others. Thanks to his meticulous and persistent work, we can now see not only images of old Vilnius in his captured frames. The first significant cycles in his creative biography appeared—photography exhibitions LITHUANIAN ETHNOGRAPHY (1969) and IN THE WORLD OF FORMS (1970).

R. Dichavičius is a member of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association (since 1965), a member of the Lithuanian Photographers’ Association (since 1970), and a member of the International Federation of Photographic Art (AFIAP) (since 1994). He has been awarded the title of Merited Artist (1987) and the honorary title of Merited Artist of the Republic of Ossetia-Alania (2004). He is also a laureate of the Lithuanian Government’s Culture and Art Award (2003).

Since 1978, the artist chose the path of a free creator, working in the fields of artistic photography, painting, book illustration, advertising, design, and publishing.

His nude photography album BLOSSOMS AMONG BLOSSOMS (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990) sparked various reactions and immense public interest not only in Lithuania but throughout the entire Soviet Union, Germany, France, and beyond. It was an unexpected sign—the taboo of the naked female body, seen as something shameful and unacceptable for a Soviet citizen, was broken for the first time not only in photographic art. The BLOSSOMS AMONG BLOSSOMS photo album in black-and-white photography exalts youth, its beauty, transience, and fragility. Art and artistic creation are always delicate processes. In the genre of the nude (Niu), it is especially sensitive and delicate—subject to both written and unwritten laws of morality and aesthetics. In this subtle genre, R. Dichavičius’ works met all the highest criteria. His exhibition BLOSSOMS AMONG BLOSSOMS toured the entire former Soviet Union and many European countries, as well as the United States—Chicago and Los Angeles. His photo album with the same title was reprinted four times and was acquired by many countries, including China.

Rimantas with his wife Benigna, who became his first model, first wife, and the mother of Aras. 1962.

The artist, who exalted the female body and imbued it with a sense of sacredness, continues to seek new aesthetic sensations and forms in life and art. His new album, VISIONS (2006), emerges, blending photography and graphics along with other creative genres. The album predominantly features highly plastic representations of natural forms, with captivating images of youth set against them, as if symbolizing the essence of femininity.

In 2004, Rimantas Dichavičius compiled, prepared for publication, designed, and released the art almanac “Baltic Art,” featuring the works of artists from the Baltic States. This unique, modern art publication, unmatched in its scope in Europe, received recognition and was showcased at international book fairs. The author had envisioned a continuation of this almanac—to present the highest achievements of Lithuanian art to the world and to absorb the most significant aspects of our neighbors’ creativity.

Rimantas at the Orvidas homestead in 1969.

The artist continues to work intensively, with photo albums-calendars TALENT AND HEART M. K. ČIURLIONIS AND TODAY (1997–2003) appearing in the public space. These are large-format and high-quality publications featuring the most renowned Lithuanian artists from various professions. The author honored and showcased the work of more than a hundred artists. In our artistic life, the monographs on the works of artists have become very significant: ŠARŪNAS SAUKA (2001), ANTANAS KMIELIAUSKAS – painting, graphics, sculpture, fresco (2001, 2003), which were highly praised at the international Frankfurt Book Fair.

In 2012, bookstores saw the release of a fundamental work prepared and published by R. Dichavičius—a collection of art albums titled MARKED BY FREEDOM. Artists for the Restored State of Lithuania (first volume). The second volume followed in 2013, and the third in 2016. These large-format, high-quality publications, each with 400 pages and around 5000 illustrations, tell the story of the artists in our country who created the symbols of the newly restored Lithuanian statehood: heraldry, currency banknotes and coins, stamps, insignia for the military, police, customs, border services, and other agencies, uniforms, state awards, monuments, mayoral regalia, and liturgical items.

Three albums dedicated to the works of Lithuanian artists that marked the days of our nation’s Sąjūdis movement, the restoration of the State, and its establishment in the world arena.
214 authors, 1240 pages, over 5000 works from all art genres. Published between 2012 and 2016.

The highest-class art publication ever released in Lithuanian history—not only in terms of material selection but also in the best printing quality currently possible in the world. This three-volume, 1240-page publication, encompassing 5000 works by 214 Lithuanian artists, may have no equivalent even in European publishing, if not globally. Until Rimantas Dichavičius, art history had not considered art from the perspective of statehood. This is a comprehensive view of the works of creators who understand the place of their state in the life of the nation.

The artist has illustrated and designed over 300 various publications, including more than 30 albums. Rimantas Dichavičius’ works include: LITHUANIAN HISTORY IN THE PAINTINGS OF GIEDRIUS KAZIMIERĖNAS; ŽALGIRIS (G. KAZIMIERĖNAS), HELL SONGS (G. KAZIMIERĖNAS), Gytis Vaitkūnas HISTORY OF LITHUANIAN AESTHETICS; the album of graphic works by Belarusian artist J. Jakovenko LINEA MAGICA; Juozas Bertulis CHURCH MUSIC – the creative legacy of an émigré composer; BALTIC AMBER – album-calendar; LIGHT OF FREEDOM – a photo album dedicated to the 15-year activity of the Lithuanian Political Prisoners and Deportees Association (2012), his brother Jonas Dikavičius’ memoir AFTER A RESTLESS NIGHT (2022), THE HISTORY OF THE DICHAVIČIUS, GRUZDŽIAI, SEMENAVIČIUS FAMILIES (2023).

R. Dichavičius has held 40 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 50 group exhibitions in the Baltic States, Italy, France, Israel, the USA, Russia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Iceland, and other countries. Rimantas’ works, distinguished by a high level of aesthetics and harmony, have traveled to many countries worldwide, and his artistic collections have been acquired by museums, cultural centers, and private collectors in Lithuania and abroad.

For the artistic design of E. Laucevičius’ book KNYGŲ ĮRIŠIMAI LIETUVOJE XV-XVIII a., which participated in an exhibition in Italy (1976), V. R. Dichavičius was awarded a gold medal. The artist’s work has been awarded multiple times at various exhibitions.

For his high artistic standards, professionalism, and active public engagement, V. R. Dichavičius was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (2007), the Estonian Order of the White Star (2004), the highest award from the Lithuanian Political Prisoners and Deportees Association—the Star of Hope (2012), and the Zigmas Žemaitis Medal from the Lithuanian Mathematical Society (2009).

It can be firmly said that the essence of R. Dichavičius’s work is aesthetics and harmony. He is a person with a sensitive soul, who does not hide his emotion when holding photographs in his hands, gifted by Gintautas Alekna, a participant in expeditions to exile sites, depicting the grave of his relatives in Siberia. “This is yet another miracle, an invaluable gift. You could write a novel about it. Taiga… taiga… Everyone died… I survived by a miracle…” In the old Tukačiov cemetery, there are still a few Lithuanian graves. In the middle of the cemetery stands a monument erected by Rimantas Dichavičius, dedicated to his parents and grandparents. The motif of transience, fragility, and impermanence is reflected in the artist’s works, a theme undoubtedly formed during his exile, where he repeatedly battled with death. Just as the historically significant memories of exiles and GULAG prisoners have been recorded, and monuments erected, Rimantas Dichavičius’s work vividly complements the signs of our times.