Midvikis' kitchen

It would be difficult to describe the personality of Midvikis, whose kitchen was so carefully painted by Audrius Puipa (1960–1997), if it were not for Ramutė Rachlevičiūtė’s book Audrius Puipa. Gyvenimo ir meno virtuozas (Audrius Puipa. A Virtuoso of Life and Art, 2012). In the book, the author cites a 1985 letter from Puipa to his future wife Lilė, in which he recounts a visit to the painter and his schoolmate Ilona Midvikytė in her grandfather’s home near Tauragė: ‘The farmstead and everything around it is very beautiful. It is late autumn, sycamore trees, the river is flowing below. I have never seen such a beautiful farmstead in Lithuania. Inside, everything is preserved as it used to be, except for some disorder, which is just what I like.’ As always, Puipa made a meticulous drawing of the scene that he so liked. Then he coloured the picture in watercolour. He photographed certain details so that he could finish the picture in his studio. It took him about a year and a half to make it into a lithograph. In his painting, Puipa enlarged some of the ‘disorder’, as he liked it better that way, so that now we can observe carefully the Soviet-era aluminium pots, enamelled kettles, colanders, buckets, cups and a wide range of dishcloths that were common in kitchens in the Lithuanian countryside in the 1980s. There is a supply of food in Midvikis’ kitchen too: splendid cabbages, bread, milk, apples, and a bottle of hooch stopped with a paper cork. The interior of Raimundas Sližys’ (1952–2008) ‘cellar’ in Užupis was filled with still-lifes by the artist as well. The meaning of the objects in this scene is expressed by the writing in the corner of the picture: ‘Behind the pillar, Šarūnas Sauka is drinking vodka, overpowered by glory and a republican award. I made him look ugly, because he was bothering me all evening. On the left, Šarūnas Leonavičius is sitting and studying the Atlantic Ocean, as he is going to sail to America in a yacht. In another corner, two drunks are leaving with a stolen picture by Sližys. Sližys himself is chopping meat for his birthday.’ The graphic artist Šarūnas Leonavičius (b. 1960) is sitting snugly in the corner among clocks and models of ships and tools, while the master of the workshop is presiding over a table, with dishes, pots, pans, scoops, glasses and bottles. It turns out that he used to cook his wonderful meals on a portable two-ring gas stove. He was well trained for it, and had kitchen implements, spices and books of recipes. It is a pity that the objects in the adjoining room are barely visible. Only a sack and a beam or board can be made out through the open door.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album OBJECTS ON SHOW (2017). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
© LATGA, Vilnius 2024

It would be difficult to describe the personality of Midvikis, whose kitchen was so carefully painted by Audrius Puipa (1960–1997), if it were not for Ramutė Rachlevičiūtė’s book Audrius Puipa. Gyvenimo ir meno virtuozas (Audrius Puipa. A Virtuoso of Life and Art, 2012). In the book, the author cites a 1985 letter from Puipa to his future wife Lilė, in which he recounts a visit to the painter and his schoolmate Ilona Midvikytė in her grandfather’s home near Tauragė: ‘The farmstead and everything around it is very beautiful. It is late autumn, sycamore trees, the river is flowing below. I have never seen such a beautiful farmstead in Lithuania. Inside, everything is preserved as it used to be, except for some disorder, which is just what I like.’ As always, Puipa made a meticulous drawing of the scene that he so liked. Then he coloured the picture in watercolour. He photographed certain details so that he could finish the picture in his studio. It took him about a year and a half to make it into a lithograph. In his painting, Puipa enlarged some of the ‘disorder’, as he liked it better that way, so that now we can observe carefully the Soviet-era aluminium pots, enamelled kettles, colanders, buckets, cups and a wide range of dishcloths that were common in kitchens in the Lithuanian countryside in the 1980s. There is a supply of food in Midvikis’ kitchen too: splendid cabbages, bread, milk, apples, and a bottle of hooch stopped with a paper cork. The interior of Raimundas Sližys’ (1952–2008) ‘cellar’ in Užupis was filled with still-lifes by the artist as well. The meaning of the objects in this scene is expressed by the writing in the corner of the picture: ‘Behind the pillar, Šarūnas Sauka is drinking vodka, overpowered by glory and a republican award. I made him look ugly, because he was bothering me all evening. On the left, Šarūnas Leonavičius is sitting and studying the Atlantic Ocean, as he is going to sail to America in a yacht. In another corner, two drunks are leaving with a stolen picture by Sližys. Sližys himself is chopping meat for his birthday.’ The graphic artist Šarūnas Leonavičius (b. 1960) is sitting snugly in the corner among clocks and models of ships and tools, while the master of the workshop is presiding over a table, with dishes, pots, pans, scoops, glasses and bottles. It turns out that he used to cook his wonderful meals on a portable two-ring gas stove. He was well trained for it, and had kitchen implements, spices and books of recipes. It is a pity that the objects in the adjoining room are barely visible. Only a sack and a beam or board can be made out through the open door.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album OBJECTS ON SHOW (2017). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
© LATGA, Vilnius 2024