Day and Night

Several versions of the full-figure allegorical sculpture Day and Night were created, of which two are in the M.K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art. The sculpture depicts a woman in a stylised, richly decorated national costume, wrapped in a shawl. The female figure is flat and ornately embellished. Petras Rimša (1881–1961) described his stylised, ornamental works in his memoirs: ‘With the pattern and details of the decoration, I wanted to reveal my dream, to find solace in a different world, to yearn for a better day.’* In 1927, at the request of President Antanas Smetona, a version of this sculpture was presented to Pope Pius XI to commemorate the signing of the Concordat between Lithuania and the Vatican. This version is currently in the Department of Decorative Arts of the Vatican Museum. The art historian Kazimieras Jasėnas, in his ‘Universal History of Art’ (1938), interpreted it as follows: ‘Day is represented by a mystical girl dressed in national costume, carrying the sun on her chest, and a girl sleeping in the moonlight at night, symbolising the condition of the state before and after the Concordat.’**

Text author Jurgita Ludavičienė

* J. Rimantas. Petras Rimša pasakoja. Vilnius, 1964, p. 253.

** Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, Vaiva Mikelionytė. Šv. Sosto ir Lietuvos Respublikos „dovanų konfliktas“ iš dailės istorijos perspektyvos 45_p185-215_Jankeviciute_Mikelionyte.pdf">https://www.lkma.lt/site/archive/metrastis/XLV/lkma-metrastis_t45_p185-215_Jankeviciute_Mikelionyte.pdf.

 

Petras Rimša (1881–1961) and Kazys Šimonis (1887–1978) were two artists who were not on the teaching staff of the art school, although the latter worked as the head of the library there. They enriched interwar Lithuanian art with their decorative Symbolist compositions and works in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė, THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
Expositions: "1918-1945 / Kaunas-Vilnius", 27 August 2020 – 21 August 2021, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.

Several versions of the full-figure allegorical sculpture Day and Night were created, of which two are in the M.K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art. The sculpture depicts a woman in a stylised, richly decorated national costume, wrapped in a shawl. The female figure is flat and ornately embellished. Petras Rimša (1881–1961) described his stylised, ornamental works in his memoirs: ‘With the pattern and details of the decoration, I wanted to reveal my dream, to find solace in a different world, to yearn for a better day.’* In 1927, at the request of President Antanas Smetona, a version of this sculpture was presented to Pope Pius XI to commemorate the signing of the Concordat between Lithuania and the Vatican. This version is currently in the Department of Decorative Arts of the Vatican Museum. The art historian Kazimieras Jasėnas, in his ‘Universal History of Art’ (1938), interpreted it as follows: ‘Day is represented by a mystical girl dressed in national costume, carrying the sun on her chest, and a girl sleeping in the moonlight at night, symbolising the condition of the state before and after the Concordat.’**

Text author Jurgita Ludavičienė

* J. Rimantas. Petras Rimša pasakoja. Vilnius, 1964, p. 253.

** Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, Vaiva Mikelionytė. Šv. Sosto ir Lietuvos Respublikos „dovanų konfliktas“ iš dailės istorijos perspektyvos 45_p185-215_Jankeviciute_Mikelionyte.pdf">https://www.lkma.lt/site/archive/metrastis/XLV/lkma-metrastis_t45_p185-215_Jankeviciute_Mikelionyte.pdf.

 

Petras Rimša (1881–1961) and Kazys Šimonis (1887–1978) were two artists who were not on the teaching staff of the art school, although the latter worked as the head of the library there. They enriched interwar Lithuanian art with their decorative Symbolist compositions and works in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė, THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
Expositions: "1918-1945 / Kaunas-Vilnius", 27 August 2020 – 21 August 2021, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.