Anupras Missess Ploughed Fields

The poetic vein is easily discernible in Leonas Vytautas Strioga’s (1930–2022) work. The sculptor was evidently familiar with poetry, having created sculptural portraits of poets such as Oskaras Milašius, Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas and Antanas Vienažindis. However, it is not only these poets but poetry in general to which he feels a strong affinity. His work reflects a longing for an idyllic time when people and animals were one, when humans were a harmonious part of the Universe, coexisting peacefully with nature. This yearning for rural, bucolic sacredness is also evident in Strioga’s sculpture Anupras Misses Ploughed Fields. According to the artist, it was inspired by the poetry of Sigitas Geda, and an unknown villager he saw riding on a trolleybus. It depicts a man wrapped in burial shrouds, with wings, rising from the grave to save his suffering homeland.* This generalised, idealised and poetic portrait of a country person appears four times in Strioga’s work: first in marble in 1985 (the piece is now in the M.K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art), and later in wood in 1990, 1993 and 1995.

Text author Jurgita Ludavičienė

* Giedrė Jankevičiūtė. „Artseria“, 2004.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
Expositions: "Free and Unfree. Lithuanian Art between 1945 and 1990", 9 September 2021 – 30 April 2022, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.
© LATGA, Vilnius 2025

The poetic vein is easily discernible in Leonas Vytautas Strioga’s (1930–2022) work. The sculptor was evidently familiar with poetry, having created sculptural portraits of poets such as Oskaras Milašius, Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas and Antanas Vienažindis. However, it is not only these poets but poetry in general to which he feels a strong affinity. His work reflects a longing for an idyllic time when people and animals were one, when humans were a harmonious part of the Universe, coexisting peacefully with nature. This yearning for rural, bucolic sacredness is also evident in Strioga’s sculpture Anupras Misses Ploughed Fields. According to the artist, it was inspired by the poetry of Sigitas Geda, and an unknown villager he saw riding on a trolleybus. It depicts a man wrapped in burial shrouds, with wings, rising from the grave to save his suffering homeland.* This generalised, idealised and poetic portrait of a country person appears four times in Strioga’s work: first in marble in 1985 (the piece is now in the M.K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art), and later in wood in 1990, 1993 and 1995.

Text author Jurgita Ludavičienė

* Giedrė Jankevičiūtė. „Artseria“, 2004.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
Expositions: "Free and Unfree. Lithuanian Art between 1945 and 1990", 9 September 2021 – 30 April 2022, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.
© LATGA, Vilnius 2025