Pylimo Street

Zbigniew Kaliszczak (1903–1985) studied in the Art Department at Stephen Báthory University, and in 1931 and 1932 he improved his skills at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts, experimenting with various techniques in graphic art. After graduating, he worked for printing presses in Radom and Ostrowiec in Poland, and after the Second World War he settled in Gdańsk. While he was studying, he made several portfolios on Vilnius subjects. The picture Pylimo Street, done in drypoint, shows the street that separates the Old Town from the New Town. The view of the street, with low houses on the left and high brick houses on the right, leads deep into the centre of the picture, and the Vilnius Choral Synagogue, with its dome rising above the houses, dominates the view. The artist looked not only at the architecture, but also at the street life, where opposites come face-to-face: an old Jew leans on a stick, boys with a bicycle meet beside an advertising stand, and horse-drawn carts overtake a bus. Kaliszczak’s work is distinguished by its modern style of expression, the unexpected brown tones of a monochromatic image, and very light drypoint lines, all of which inject into the picture a limpidity and an impression of spaciousness.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
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)

Zbigniew Kaliszczak (1903–1985) studied in the Art Department at Stephen Báthory University, and in 1931 and 1932 he improved his skills at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts, experimenting with various techniques in graphic art. After graduating, he worked for printing presses in Radom and Ostrowiec in Poland, and after the Second World War he settled in Gdańsk. While he was studying, he made several portfolios on Vilnius subjects. The picture Pylimo Street, done in drypoint, shows the street that separates the Old Town from the New Town. The view of the street, with low houses on the left and high brick houses on the right, leads deep into the centre of the picture, and the Vilnius Choral Synagogue, with its dome rising above the houses, dominates the view. The artist looked not only at the architecture, but also at the street life, where opposites come face-to-face: an old Jew leans on a stick, boys with a bicycle meet beside an advertising stand, and horse-drawn carts overtake a bus. Kaliszczak’s work is distinguished by its modern style of expression, the unexpected brown tones of a monochromatic image, and very light drypoint lines, all of which inject into the picture a limpidity and an impression of spaciousness.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
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)