Morkunas, Kazimeras Iono

(in Lithuanian, Kazimieras Jono Morkũnas). Born Mar. 4, 1924, in the village of Žižmariai, Kaišedoriai Raion, Lithuanian SSR. Soviet master of stained glass. Honored Art Worker of the Lithuanian SSR (1974). Became a member of the CPSU in 1956.

Morkunas studied under S. Ušinskas at the Kaunas Institute of Applied and Decorative Art from 1946 to 1951. He attended the Art Institute of the Lithuanian SSR in Vilnius in 1951 and 1952; he has taught there since 1952. Morkunas works primarily with thick cut glass mounted on a cement or reinforced-concrete framework. His stained-glass panels are noted for their expressiveness of light and rhythm. Morkunas’ works include Morning (colored mirror glass, 1960, Central Pharmacy, Moscow), Pirciupis (1961, Gallery of Stained Glass and Sculpture, Kaunas), Spring (1963–65, Gallery of Stained Glass and Sculpture, Kaunas), and Struggle and The Meeting of Heroes for the monument to the Soviet army of liberation in Krizkalnis (1972; State Prize of the Lithuanian SSR, 1973). The last four works are colored cut glass mounted on plasticized cement. Morkunas has been awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.