Old town motif (recto). Still-life (verso)

It was not by chance that A. Valeška chose to reproduce the motif of the Kaunas old town. The painter took great interest in its cultural legacy. He was the founder and director of the Museum of Church Art in Kaunas. In 1940–1944 he was director of the Vilnius Museum of Art and collector of folk art. Later he emigrated and from 1950 lived in Chicago, USA. In 1993 he returned to Lithuania. The picture aptly reflects the compactness of the Kaunas old town, its closed courtyards and the playfulness of colours on the wooden architecture. This work is exciting from the ethno-cultural viewpoint as well.

Text author Nijolė Tumėnienė 

This work already lives a dual life in public. Nijolė Tumėnienė presented it as a landscape in the first volume of The World of Landscapes (2010, p. 211) published by the law firm LAWIN (now Ellex Valiunas), and the still-life side was reproduced in the Lithuanian collectors’ magazine Kolekcija (Collection, 1996, No. 3, p. 6). The quick, fine brushstrokes and free style of drawing are characteristic features of early works by Adolfas Valeška (1905–1994). On one hand, the style of painting gives an imperfect impression. On the other, it gives a picture an attractive lightness and dynamism. This applies in particular to the still-life which appears nonetheless on the back of the picture, giving priority to a boring but accurately depicted townscape typical of the suburbs of Kaunas.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album THE WORLD OF LANDSCAPES I (2010). Text authors Nijolė Tumėnienė, Dalia Tarandaitė, OBJECTS ON SHOW (2017). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
© LATGA, Vilnius 2024

It was not by chance that A. Valeška chose to reproduce the motif of the Kaunas old town. The painter took great interest in its cultural legacy. He was the founder and director of the Museum of Church Art in Kaunas. In 1940–1944 he was director of the Vilnius Museum of Art and collector of folk art. Later he emigrated and from 1950 lived in Chicago, USA. In 1993 he returned to Lithuania. The picture aptly reflects the compactness of the Kaunas old town, its closed courtyards and the playfulness of colours on the wooden architecture. This work is exciting from the ethno-cultural viewpoint as well.

Text author Nijolė Tumėnienė 

This work already lives a dual life in public. Nijolė Tumėnienė presented it as a landscape in the first volume of The World of Landscapes (2010, p. 211) published by the law firm LAWIN (now Ellex Valiunas), and the still-life side was reproduced in the Lithuanian collectors’ magazine Kolekcija (Collection, 1996, No. 3, p. 6). The quick, fine brushstrokes and free style of drawing are characteristic features of early works by Adolfas Valeška (1905–1994). On one hand, the style of painting gives an imperfect impression. On the other, it gives a picture an attractive lightness and dynamism. This applies in particular to the still-life which appears nonetheless on the back of the picture, giving priority to a boring but accurately depicted townscape typical of the suburbs of Kaunas.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album THE WORLD OF LANDSCAPES I (2010). Text authors Nijolė Tumėnienė, Dalia Tarandaitė, OBJECTS ON SHOW (2017). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
© LATGA, Vilnius 2024