Master of altars and his daughter from Suvalkai

Adomas Karalius (1854-1946) was a master of wood, a folk artist, a notable creator of the sacral art in the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He was born in Lithuania (in the family of the Šakiai County farmer), and spent a considerable amount of his life and work in the centre of the Suvalkai Province. When he arrived in Suvalkai in 1903, he quickly became famous for impressive wood carvings, received many orders, had assistants and students. Having equipped a workshop he carved altars, pulpits, confessionals, ciborium, organ prospects, sacristy furniture, and other wooden parts of the church interior. In his List of Church of Works, recently discovered by his relatives, it is stated that A. Karalius's works can be found in ten Polish and thirty Lithuanian churches (Punskas, Mažasis Plockas, Studena, Krasnyboras, Sylvanovcai, Kolnas, Birštonas, Šilavotas, Gelgaudiškis, Višakio Rūda, Kalvarija, and elsewhere). They are ornamental, neo-gothic, neo-baroque forms, forming artistic ensembles of the whole; some of them belong to the most important neo-gothic ensembles in Lithuania. The works of Adomas Karalius are still a buried treasure. They have not been catalogued yet, with the exception of a few notes in the periodicals, they have not been evaluated by the specialists, although all the churches are still functioning, and two of A. Karalius's furniture collections have survived in the house of the descendants: rococo style, stylishly carved, white colour. This article also briefly reviews the biographies of A. Karalius‘s children born or raised in Suvalkai. Marked by the gene of art, some of them were prone to visual expression, others - to music. Daughter Anelė Karaliūtė (born Suvalkai in 1909) chose the profession of a singer. After graduating from the Kaunas Music School, she sang the main roles of operas at the State Theatre of Lithuania. However, she sang for only a while: with a small baby on her hands she was deported to Siberia. And not only was she: four of the seven children of Adomas Karalius suffered a brutal beast in hunger in the north of Russia. In 1918, Adomas Karalius returned to Independent Lithuania. He settled in Marijampolė, moved his workshop from Suvalkai and did carving work in them from the early morning to the late retirement. He died when he was 93. He was buried in Marijampolė Cemetery, next to his wife, where two of his daughters were also buried later. The latter article does not claim to provide professional insights, meanings and definitions of A. Karalius inheritance. It is aimed at a minor revelation in the centenary folk art sphere, at reminding of the work and presence of the talented wood master sinking down in the oblivion.