Birutė Janina Grasilda Žilytė-Steponavičienė (2 June 1930 – 3 November 2024) was a Lithuanian graphic artist, book illustrator, painter, and educator."Birutė Žilytė", Universal Lithuanian EncyclopediaNacionalinės premijos laureatė B. Žilytė: mano gyvenimą lydi atsitiktinumai"
Biography Žilytė-Steponavičienė was born in , Panevėžys District on 2 June 1930. In 1956 she graduated from State Institute of Art (now Vilnius Academy of Arts). From 1963 to 1987 she taught at the Čiurlionis School of Art.
She was married to , painter, graphic artist, book illustrator and writer."Birutė Žilytė-Steponavičienė pasitinka 90-ąjį jubiliejų: pamačiusi vaivorykštę suprato – kurs tik ryškiai"
Žilytė-Steponavičienė died on 3 November 2024, at the age of 94.
Notable works Pušelė sanatorium murals In 2015 the murals in Valkininkai children's sanatorium "Pušelė" ("Little Pine Tree"),Note: The location of the sanatorium is in the village of , formerly known as Valkininkai; not to be confused with the nearby city of Valkininkai. created together with her husband during 1969–1972, were included into the Lithuanian Registry of Cultural Values. On the occasion, the head of the regional Cultural Heritage department Margarita Janušonienė noticed that it is an important example of the cooperation of a duo of complementary artists and the consolidation of creative freedom against Soviet censorship and the regulation of art in public spaces."Valstybės saugomais paskelbti trys unikalūs kultūros paveldo objektai" The murals, based on the motifs of Lithuanian folklore, are described as "one of the most remarkable works of Lithuanian modernist art of the second half of the 20th century". The original work is in a vandalized and neglected state. A digitally restored copy, based on photographs made in 2016-2018 was prepared by the Vilnius Gallery project, with the assistance of the artist. The reconstructed copy was printed on aluminium composite sheets, for exhibitions.Valkininkų „Pušelės“ sienų tapyba: XX a. dailės paveldas skaitmeninėse laikmenose ("Mural painting in the Valkininkai Pušelė sanatorium: the twentieth-century artistic heritage on digital storage media"), Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis: Restauravimo laboratorija, Vilnius : Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla, 2019. vol. 92/93, p. 52–78.Sienų tapyba Valkininkuose. Birutė Žilytė ir Algirdas Steponavičius, Vilniaus galerija
The mural paintings constitute 12 compositions of total area of about 110 m².
Book illustrations In 1969 Birutė Žilytė was awarded the Golden Apple award at the Bratislava Children's Book Illustration Biennale for her illustrations for the 1967 edition of the poetry book Aukso sietelis (The Golden Sieve) by Janis Rainis.Erika Grigoravičienė, CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS, MO MuseumJanio Rainio poezijos knyga Aukso sietelis, 1967 Iliustratorė Birutė Žilytė (g. 1930)
Her illustrations for Pabėgusi dainelė (Runaway Song, 1966) and Pasaka apie narsią Vilniaus mergaitę ir galvažudį Žaliabarzdį (The Tale of a Brave Girl from Vilnius and Greenbeard the Killer, 1970) earned her the Lithuanian SSR State Award (1971).
Awards and decorations 1971: Lithuanian SSR State Award 1997: Knight's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas 1980. Meritorious Artist of Lithuanian SSRPANEVĖŽIO ŠLOVĖS ALĖJA: ŽYMIAUSIEJI KRAŠTIEČIAI. BIRUTĖ JANINA GRASILDA ŽILYTĖ (STEPONAVIČIENĖ) 2010: Culture and Arts Award of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania 2015: Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts, "for art and creativity for children that fosters high modern culture." 2020: Honorary Professor at the Vilnius Academy of Arts"Pagerbtos dailininkė B. Žilytė-Steponavičienė ir rašytoja K. Sabaliauskaitė"
References
External links "Birutė Žilytė" at "Vilniaus galerija" website. Includes photographies of works, a biographical sketch, and quotes about Birutė Žilytė's creativity from books