Weathervane

Teodoras Kazimieras Valaitis (1934–1974) expanded the concept of decorative sculpture at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. His works are notable for their connection with the environment, architecture and their users. The only official works by Valaitis were decorative sculptures commissioned by the authorities to decorate public interiors, the exteriors of buildings, or the exhibitions in USSR pavilions. In the early 1970s, Valaitis began creating stable and mobile geometric constructions. These decorative compositions, or ‘architectural accessories’, could only exist together with architecture during the Soviet era. Architecture was crucial to Valaitis, and as with The Weathervane, he integrated his objects carefully into architectural settings. The art critic Erika Grigoravičienė wrote: ‘Built in Lazdynai in 1973, the abstract and minimalist Weathervane, made from copper cladding, was not only the first abstract and kinetic sculpture in Lithuania, but also a good example of cryptic language. It began to show the direction of the wind, under the impact of the wind itself, and in Lithuania, after all, the wind usually blows from the west.’* This spatial construction was the artist’s most famous work, completed a year before his tragic death. The model for The Weathervane is made of iron, and is almost identical to the one built in Lazdynai: a rhythmic structure composed of geometric organic forms like modules, characteristic of the sculptor’s late period. Apart from the medium, the main difference is that with the weathervane standing in the public space, the point of the intersection of the arrow and the base is more graceful, complemented by a curved plane that emphasises its biomorphism.

* 78-desimtmetis/79476">http://www.mmcentras.lt/kulturos-istorija/kulturos-istorija/daile/skulptura/paminklai-idejoms-zmonems-formoms-xx-a-78-desimtmetis/79476.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
Expositions: ”Teodoras Kazimieras Valaitis. 1934-1974", 14 November 2014 – 1 February 2015, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; "Free and Unfree. Lithuanian Art between 1945 and 1990", 9 September 2021 – 30 April 2022, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė; "Vilnius Time", June 2023 – May 2024, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Ieva Burbaitė and Emilija Vanagaitė; "Iron Vilnius", 13 December 2024 – 16 March 2025, Museum of Applied Arts and Design (3A Arsenalo st, Vilnius). Curator Jurgita Ludavičienė.
© VŠĮ „Lietuvos dailės fondas“

Teodoras Kazimieras Valaitis (1934–1974) expanded the concept of decorative sculpture at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. His works are notable for their connection with the environment, architecture and their users. The only official works by Valaitis were decorative sculptures commissioned by the authorities to decorate public interiors, the exteriors of buildings, or the exhibitions in USSR pavilions. In the early 1970s, Valaitis began creating stable and mobile geometric constructions. These decorative compositions, or ‘architectural accessories’, could only exist together with architecture during the Soviet era. Architecture was crucial to Valaitis, and as with The Weathervane, he integrated his objects carefully into architectural settings. The art critic Erika Grigoravičienė wrote: ‘Built in Lazdynai in 1973, the abstract and minimalist Weathervane, made from copper cladding, was not only the first abstract and kinetic sculpture in Lithuania, but also a good example of cryptic language. It began to show the direction of the wind, under the impact of the wind itself, and in Lithuania, after all, the wind usually blows from the west.’* This spatial construction was the artist’s most famous work, completed a year before his tragic death. The model for The Weathervane is made of iron, and is almost identical to the one built in Lazdynai: a rhythmic structure composed of geometric organic forms like modules, characteristic of the sculptor’s late period. Apart from the medium, the main difference is that with the weathervane standing in the public space, the point of the intersection of the arrow and the base is more graceful, complemented by a curved plane that emphasises its biomorphism.

* 78-desimtmetis/79476">http://www.mmcentras.lt/kulturos-istorija/kulturos-istorija/daile/skulptura/paminklai-idejoms-zmonems-formoms-xx-a-78-desimtmetis/79476.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
Expositions: ”Teodoras Kazimieras Valaitis. 1934-1974", 14 November 2014 – 1 February 2015, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; "Free and Unfree. Lithuanian Art between 1945 and 1990", 9 September 2021 – 30 April 2022, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė; "Vilnius Time", June 2023 – May 2024, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Ieva Burbaitė and Emilija Vanagaitė; "Iron Vilnius", 13 December 2024 – 16 March 2025, Museum of Applied Arts and Design (3A Arsenalo st, Vilnius). Curator Jurgita Ludavičienė.
© VŠĮ „Lietuvos dailės fondas“