The Missionaries’ Church in Vilnius

Viktoras Vizgirda (1904–1993), a painter of the pre-war period, painted this picture during the Second World War. He lived in Kaunas between the wars, painted landscapes of the Lithuanian countryside, and painted the old village of Beržoras in Žemaitija. He only began to paint architecture when he settled in Vilnius. However, his picture The Missionaries’ Church in Vilnius recalls the countryside rather than the capital: orchards, fields, fenced gardens, and the green Saviour Hill, with the Missionaries’ Church on the top. Its white towers in the depths of the picture gleam against the blue sky and the green foliage that are plunged in shadow. Vizgirda rendered natural forces with great skill: the greenery in his pictures comes in many shades; the shapes of the plants are in motion, they crawl and spread as if they are propelled by gusts of wind; and the brushstrokes dance to an expressive and slightly nervous rhythm. Vizgirda is a poet of nature, not of the town.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

After Stephen Báthory University was closed in 1939, Vilnius Art School opened on 14 June 1940 in the premises of the old Faculty of Art. A year later, it was renamed Vilnius Academy of Art. Justinas Vienožinskis, Viktoras Vizgirda, Antanas Gudaitis and Jonas Kuzminskis came from Kaunas to work at the Academy of Art, and Kaunas Art School offered only courses in applied art. Adherents of the dominant tradition there, who had used expressive brushwork and stressed the importance of colour, and who had found inspiration in nature and the countryside, discovered the urban landscape of Vilnius. The abundance of cityscapes in wartime art can be seen as the wish of the Lithuanians to reclaim their historic capital and make it their own again. Inspired by the Polish Pictorialist tradition which Jan Bulhak had shaped, they juxtaposed its iconic architecture with leafy parts of the city, creating a style that redefined the iconography of the city.

This image of the city was very different to the work of the Polish school. The teachers and students at Stephen Báthory University had paid more attention to drawing than to pictorialism, and put less emphasis on the relationship between nature and architecture.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė, KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: “Vilnius. Topophilia. Views of Vilnius from the collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius. Curator Laima Laučkaitė; "A Glance at the History of Lithuanian Art from Užupis", 30 August 2018 – 1 June 2019, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curator Giedrė Jankevičiūtė.

Viktoras Vizgirda (1904–1993), a painter of the pre-war period, painted this picture during the Second World War. He lived in Kaunas between the wars, painted landscapes of the Lithuanian countryside, and painted the old village of Beržoras in Žemaitija. He only began to paint architecture when he settled in Vilnius. However, his picture The Missionaries’ Church in Vilnius recalls the countryside rather than the capital: orchards, fields, fenced gardens, and the green Saviour Hill, with the Missionaries’ Church on the top. Its white towers in the depths of the picture gleam against the blue sky and the green foliage that are plunged in shadow. Vizgirda rendered natural forces with great skill: the greenery in his pictures comes in many shades; the shapes of the plants are in motion, they crawl and spread as if they are propelled by gusts of wind; and the brushstrokes dance to an expressive and slightly nervous rhythm. Vizgirda is a poet of nature, not of the town.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

After Stephen Báthory University was closed in 1939, Vilnius Art School opened on 14 June 1940 in the premises of the old Faculty of Art. A year later, it was renamed Vilnius Academy of Art. Justinas Vienožinskis, Viktoras Vizgirda, Antanas Gudaitis and Jonas Kuzminskis came from Kaunas to work at the Academy of Art, and Kaunas Art School offered only courses in applied art. Adherents of the dominant tradition there, who had used expressive brushwork and stressed the importance of colour, and who had found inspiration in nature and the countryside, discovered the urban landscape of Vilnius. The abundance of cityscapes in wartime art can be seen as the wish of the Lithuanians to reclaim their historic capital and make it their own again. Inspired by the Polish Pictorialist tradition which Jan Bulhak had shaped, they juxtaposed its iconic architecture with leafy parts of the city, creating a style that redefined the iconography of the city.

This image of the city was very different to the work of the Polish school. The teachers and students at Stephen Báthory University had paid more attention to drawing than to pictorialism, and put less emphasis on the relationship between nature and architecture.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė, KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: “Vilnius. Topophilia. Views of Vilnius from the collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius. Curator Laima Laučkaitė; "A Glance at the History of Lithuanian Art from Užupis", 30 August 2018 – 1 June 2019, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curator Giedrė Jankevičiūtė.