The Missionaries’ Church in Vilnius

During the interwar period, Leon Kosmulski (1904–1952), a graduate of the Art Department at Stephen Báthory University, produced a number of engravings of old Vilnius architecture. His etching of the twin-tower Missionaries’ Church is distinguished by its romantic emotionality and its Baroque interpretation: the tall and dynamic Baroque architecture, the cumulus clouds, the undulating land, and even the cartouche with its inscription. The etching was made at the end of the Second World War. During the war, Kosmulski, like his colleagues, pursued historical styles of art and tended towards retrospectivism, looking for refuge from the brutal wartime reality in art, in the craftsmanship of previous epochs, and in the golden age of Baroque. The etching also reflects an individual feature of his work: bored with the traditional realistic form of expression, he created imaginary townscapes. The rendering of the architecture is exact, but the artist replaced its urban surroundings and the street lined with houses with a landscape of green hills, a sandy road, and the River Vilnia with its steep banks. Kosmulski’s Vilnius is a harmonious place, unspoilt by urbanisation, a dreamlike Arcadia, where courting couples go for walks.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

Polish artists continued to portray Vilnius during the Second World War as a city with a glorious past, both romantic and sometimes even fantastic. Their works nevertheless usually had an air of tension and drama. For example, Leon Kosmulski (1904–1952) depicted the Missionaries’ Church in an imaginary environment, with a lofty background of Baroque clouds producing a strong emotional effect.

After the war ended, most former teachers and students from the Faculty of Art at Stephen Báthory University moved to cities in northwest Poland, taking with them much of their creative legacy. The tradition of Vilnius’ interwar art and research took root most firmly in the Faculty of Art at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The Vilnius Neoclassical tradition, with its emphasis on history and heritage protection, lived on.

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.

During the interwar period, Leon Kosmulski (1904–1952), a graduate of the Art Department at Stephen Báthory University, produced a number of engravings of old Vilnius architecture. His etching of the twin-tower Missionaries’ Church is distinguished by its romantic emotionality and its Baroque interpretation: the tall and dynamic Baroque architecture, the cumulus clouds, the undulating land, and even the cartouche with its inscription. The etching was made at the end of the Second World War. During the war, Kosmulski, like his colleagues, pursued historical styles of art and tended towards retrospectivism, looking for refuge from the brutal wartime reality in art, in the craftsmanship of previous epochs, and in the golden age of Baroque. The etching also reflects an individual feature of his work: bored with the traditional realistic form of expression, he created imaginary townscapes. The rendering of the architecture is exact, but the artist replaced its urban surroundings and the street lined with houses with a landscape of green hills, a sandy road, and the River Vilnia with its steep banks. Kosmulski’s Vilnius is a harmonious place, unspoilt by urbanisation, a dreamlike Arcadia, where courting couples go for walks.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

Polish artists continued to portray Vilnius during the Second World War as a city with a glorious past, both romantic and sometimes even fantastic. Their works nevertheless usually had an air of tension and drama. For example, Leon Kosmulski (1904–1952) depicted the Missionaries’ Church in an imaginary environment, with a lofty background of Baroque clouds producing a strong emotional effect.

After the war ended, most former teachers and students from the Faculty of Art at Stephen Báthory University moved to cities in northwest Poland, taking with them much of their creative legacy. The tradition of Vilnius’ interwar art and research took root most firmly in the Faculty of Art at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The Vilnius Neoclassical tradition, with its emphasis on history and heritage protection, lived on.

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.