Biography
Jonas Kelečius was born in 1918 in Riga. He was not only a painter, but an actor as well. He studied at J. Tumas-Vaižgantas Gymnasium in Rokiškis. In 1944 Jonas Kelečius left for the West and settled in Germany, Hanau Lithuanian camp. In 1945 together with S. Petkus he founded the Lithuanian theatre "Atžalynas", where he had several roles as well. In 1949 he settled in the United States. In 1955 he graduated from the Lettering Design Institute. He worked in his own advertising studio. He played in performances of the Chicago Lithuanian Opera, directed plays, made the scenography. In addition he studied at the Chicago Art Institute.
He held solo exhibitions in Chicago K.M. Čiurlionis Gallery (1965, 1969), Boston, Cleveland (1970), participated in collective exhibition together with O. Mickūnas and I. Mickūnienė (1972). He was awarded the Cultural Council Award (USA).
Style
Jonas Kelečius painted multiple-figure compositions, portraits, poetic and rich coloured thematic compositions.
