Aleksandras Marciulionis (photo by J. Tamulis) sculpture about the artist selected works: #1 - #15 more artists

Aleksandras Marciulionis was born on March 3, 1911, in the village of Zagariskiai in the vicinity of Kaunas, Lithuania. In 1930, he graduated from the Ausra High School in Kaunas and enrolled at the Kaunas Academy of Art to study the art of sculpture. He studied sculpture under Juozas Zikaras and Juozas Mikenas, graduating in 1936. The following year, he completed his mandatory military service at the Kaunas Military Academy and became an active member of Lithuanian Artist Association and started exhibiting his work. In 1938, he started teaching at the Second Kaunas School of Applied Arts, where he taught ornamentation, drafting and drawing until 1944.

Forced to leave Lithuania by the war, Aleksandras was invited to organize drawing and sculpture departments at a new school in Kandern, in the Black Forest region of West Germany, in 1946. Soon after, he became the head of the sculpture department at the School of Applied Arts (Ecole des Arts et Metiers) in nearby Freiburg im Breisgau, where he taught both sculpting and drawing until 1949. He is credited for producing a number of Lithuanian sculptors who became very successful in the West, such as Antanas Moncys, Juozas Pivoriunas, Vytautas Raulinaitis, Boleslovas Milaknis, Ramojus Mozoliauskas, and others. During this period, Aleksandras participated in exhibitions in Germany and his sculptures were selected to be sent to New York and Chicago on a traveling exhibition. His wife, Eleonora Marciulionis, a gifted ceramicist, was a part of these exhibitions as well with her ceramic art.

In 1949, Aleksandras Marciulionis with his family moved to Adelaide, Australia. Here he made a living working in zincography with an opportunity to express himself as a graphic artist. He also created watercolor paintings, created theater decorations, and participated in art exhibitions.

Early in 1956, the Marciulionis family relocated to Chicago. Aleksandras went to work at firms engaged in designing and producing sculptural decorations and monuments, and completed projects for more than a hundred churches. After work he devoted himself to his own art and his works were exhibited in the Chicago area.

In 1962, Aleksandras created an large aluminum sculpture of St. Casimir to decorate the front of the new Lithuanian church in Maspeth, New York. That same year he also designed the Lithuanian pavillion for the Chicago's International Trade Fair.

In 1978, Aleksandras Marciulionis had a major solo exhibition at the Lithuanian Art Gallery Ciurlionis and displayed his versatility with 50 sculptures in various materials, 5 watercolors and 3 drawings. When asked about his work, Aleksandras replied that he uses all types of materials, especially those that can be worked more easily, and that he likes all types of themes, especially those that come readily to mind. Lacking a studio with "monumental" space, Aleksandras created sculptures mostly of "salon" proportions.

Aleksandras Marciulionis died in Chicago on May 12, 1998. He is buried at the St. Casimir Lithuanian cemetery.

Solo Exhibits

• 1978 - Sculpture Exhibition of A. Marciulionis, Oct. 20-29, Lithuanian Art Gallery Ciurlionis, Chicago - 58 works on display including 5 watercolors and 3 drawings
  

• 1948 - Lithuanian Exile Community's art exhibition, June 27, Hanau, Germany - 4 works by A.M. on display, won a prize for "Resurrection"
  
• 1949 - "Lithuanian Art in Exile" exhibition, New York
  
• 1950 - "Lithuanian Art in Exile", Chicago Historical Society Exhibit, Aug. 14 - Oct. 1, Lincoln Park, Chicago
  
• 1953 - "Exhibition of Lithuanian Artists in Australia", Sep. 7-19, Mark Foy's Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia - 7 works by A.M. on display
  
• 1953 - Spring Exhibition of the Royal S.A. Society of Arts, Sep. 15 - Oct. 3, Adelaide, Australia, sculpture titled "The Prayer out of Ruins" by A.M. on display
  
• 1959 - 6 Lithuanian artists' exhibit, Oct. 24 - Nov. 1, Chicago - 7 works by A.M. on display
  
• 1964 - Exhibition, Chicago Art Institute, Chicago - bronze sculpture "Construction" by A.M. on display
  
• 1964 - "To View 1863-1941-1950 Uprisings" Exhibition, Apr. 4-12, Lithuanian Art Gallery Ciurlionis, Chicago - "Before the Dawn" sculpture by A.M. on display (see image 35) which won the second prize
  
• 1965 - 6th Annual Religious Art Show, Apr. 25 - May 10, Baptist Graduate Student Center, Chicago
  
• 1968 - 50th Anniversary of Lithuanian Independence exhibition, Chicago - A.M. won the second prize for the metal sculpture "Construction"
  
• 1971 - Lithuanian Independence Day art exhibition, Feb., Lithuanian Art Gallery Ciurlionis, Chicago - A.M. won the third prize
  
• 1975 - 3 Chicago Lithuanian artist exhibit, July 27, motherhouse of Immaculate Conception Sisters, Putnam, Connecticut - 18 (or more) works by A.M. on display
  
• 1980 - Institute of Lithuanian Art Exhibition, Feb. 22 - March 2, Lithuanian Art Gallery Ciurlionis, Chicago - 2 works by A.M. on display

• Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Vilnius, Lithuania
  
• Lithuanian Art Gallery Ciurlionis, Chicago
  
• Lithuanian Art Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania
  
• Museum of Modern Art, The Vatican
  
• Museum of Religious Art, Kaunas, Lithuania
  
• Private collections.

  References
  Exhibition program notes and articles in Draugas, Lietuvos Aidas, Musu Kelias, and Naujienos.