A view of Vilnius

Series ‘Old Vilnius’, 1942–1948.

The Lithuanian graphic artist Jonas Kuzminskis (1906–1985) arrived in Vilnius in 1941 after completing his studies in graphic art at Kaunas School of Art. He taught at Vilnius School of Art, Vilnius Academy of Art, and later at the Lithuanian SSR Institute of Art. Like other artists who came from Kaunas to Vilnius, which had just been recovered by the Lithuanians, he fell in love with the city and its old architecture. He produced the series ‘Old Vilnius’ during the period 1942 to 1948. During the Second World War, he made woodcuts and linocuts of broad townscapes, with fascinating multi-dimensional compositions, epic and wavy rhythms, and decorative stylisation. His views of Vilnius from the war years are the most valuable works by Kuzminskis.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

Lithuanian artists managed to organise several group exhibitions in Kaunas, Ukmergė, Telšiai and Vilnius during the German occupation. However, a confrontation with the German censors could not be avoided in an exhibition held at the Vilnius Art Museum in the spring of 1944. By order of Hinrich Lohse, the commissar of the occupying authorities, paintings by Antanas Gudaitis and Viktoras Vizgirda were removed from the exhibition, as examples of ‘degenerate art’ (entartete Kunst) (Antanas Gudaitis: tekstai ir vaizdai [Antanas Gudaitis: Texts and Images], compiled by Eglė Kunčiuvienė, Ema Mikulėnaitė, Vilnius, 2020, p. 117). Lohse was probably displeased by the Expressionist features in the portraits and landscapes painted by the members of the Ars group.

The landscape was the most common genre during the war. It was ideologically neutral and acceptable to the censors, and was therefore often exhibited and willingly bought by the public. Architectural landscapes depicting the newly returned capital could often be seen in works by Jonas Kuzminskis (1906–1985). One of his engravings in the series ‘Old Vilnius’ depicts a view of the Old Town with the building of Vilnius Academy of Art, in which he taught from 1941 after arriving from Kaunas. During the war, artists often turned their attention to close and ordinary domestic life. Kuzminskis’ composition In the kitchen, depicting his wife cleaning fish in the family’s small kitchen, is typical of that time.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA II (2015). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė, KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: ‘Vilnius Forever. A Dialogue of Artworks and Guides to the City’, 25 May 2022 – 30 April 2023 Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curator Laima Laučkaitė.

Series ‘Old Vilnius’, 1942–1948.

The Lithuanian graphic artist Jonas Kuzminskis (1906–1985) arrived in Vilnius in 1941 after completing his studies in graphic art at Kaunas School of Art. He taught at Vilnius School of Art, Vilnius Academy of Art, and later at the Lithuanian SSR Institute of Art. Like other artists who came from Kaunas to Vilnius, which had just been recovered by the Lithuanians, he fell in love with the city and its old architecture. He produced the series ‘Old Vilnius’ during the period 1942 to 1948. During the Second World War, he made woodcuts and linocuts of broad townscapes, with fascinating multi-dimensional compositions, epic and wavy rhythms, and decorative stylisation. His views of Vilnius from the war years are the most valuable works by Kuzminskis.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

Lithuanian artists managed to organise several group exhibitions in Kaunas, Ukmergė, Telšiai and Vilnius during the German occupation. However, a confrontation with the German censors could not be avoided in an exhibition held at the Vilnius Art Museum in the spring of 1944. By order of Hinrich Lohse, the commissar of the occupying authorities, paintings by Antanas Gudaitis and Viktoras Vizgirda were removed from the exhibition, as examples of ‘degenerate art’ (entartete Kunst) (Antanas Gudaitis: tekstai ir vaizdai [Antanas Gudaitis: Texts and Images], compiled by Eglė Kunčiuvienė, Ema Mikulėnaitė, Vilnius, 2020, p. 117). Lohse was probably displeased by the Expressionist features in the portraits and landscapes painted by the members of the Ars group.

The landscape was the most common genre during the war. It was ideologically neutral and acceptable to the censors, and was therefore often exhibited and willingly bought by the public. Architectural landscapes depicting the newly returned capital could often be seen in works by Jonas Kuzminskis (1906–1985). One of his engravings in the series ‘Old Vilnius’ depicts a view of the Old Town with the building of Vilnius Academy of Art, in which he taught from 1941 after arriving from Kaunas. During the war, artists often turned their attention to close and ordinary domestic life. Kuzminskis’ composition In the kitchen, depicting his wife cleaning fish in the family’s small kitchen, is typical of that time.

Text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA II (2015). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė, KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: ‘Vilnius Forever. A Dialogue of Artworks and Guides to the City’, 25 May 2022 – 30 April 2023 Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curator Laima Laučkaitė.