Caricaturist Lazar Kagan and Art of Humor in Interwar Lithuania
The author of this article seeks to reconstruct the biographical data of artist Lazar Kagan and to analyze his humorous art in the context of interwar Lithuanian art (1918-1940). The research also gives special attention to Kagan's art exhibitions, as well as the attitude of interwar art critics and public to the art of humor. By representing the life and works of only one artist, author attempts to open a window into the once prosperous and subsequently destroyed world of Lithuanian Jewish artistic life, as well as to fill some actual gaps in the history of Lithuanian art, considering it as an indivisible multicultural space. Many important documents concerning Kagan's biography were destroyed during the WWII and the Holocaust. His artistic heritage was more fortunate and survived thanks to the press.