Female Torso

The sculptor Aloyzas Smilingis (1938–2023) described himself as being close to nature, and saw creative work as an expression of an inner need. Sceptical about exhibitions, he did not seek to impose himself or participate actively in the field of art, which probably explains the small number of his solo exhibitions. Although he graduated from the State Art Institute with a degree in graphic art, he felt a stronger connection with painting and sculpture. He created sculptures from granite, set up a bronze foundry, and cast his work himself. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, feeling that he lacked opportunities to realise his ideas on a large scale, he abandoned sculpture. This female figure in opulent, rounded forms is a mahogany torso with emphasised muscular shapes and a polished surface that replicates the smoothness and warmth of the female body. In the 1960s, allegories began to emerge in decorative sculpture, and the female figure became a central image, embodying themes of youth, motherhood and spring. The monumental shapes of the body convey the sculptor’s admiration for the female form, with the torso, a Classical motif in sculpture from ancient times, symbolising the worship of woman as a symbol of fertility, the Mother Goddess. Despite this, the artist’s treatment of the form is undoubtedly Modernist, characteristic of trends in sculpture from the 1970s and 1980s. Later, the artist created a small female bronze torso, showing the body leaning in motion, with knees bent, further developing the motif of the bending female figure. The torso of a leaning woman, treated in a similarly generalised and monumental way, was also finally rendered in granite. Smilingis’ granite sculpture The Bather (1984) stands in Senvagė Park in Panevėžys.

Text author Jurgita Ludavičienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius
© LATGA, Vilnius 2025

The sculptor Aloyzas Smilingis (1938–2023) described himself as being close to nature, and saw creative work as an expression of an inner need. Sceptical about exhibitions, he did not seek to impose himself or participate actively in the field of art, which probably explains the small number of his solo exhibitions. Although he graduated from the State Art Institute with a degree in graphic art, he felt a stronger connection with painting and sculpture. He created sculptures from granite, set up a bronze foundry, and cast his work himself. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, feeling that he lacked opportunities to realise his ideas on a large scale, he abandoned sculpture. This female figure in opulent, rounded forms is a mahogany torso with emphasised muscular shapes and a polished surface that replicates the smoothness and warmth of the female body. In the 1960s, allegories began to emerge in decorative sculpture, and the female figure became a central image, embodying themes of youth, motherhood and spring. The monumental shapes of the body convey the sculptor’s admiration for the female form, with the torso, a Classical motif in sculpture from ancient times, symbolising the worship of woman as a symbol of fertility, the Mother Goddess. Despite this, the artist’s treatment of the form is undoubtedly Modernist, characteristic of trends in sculpture from the 1970s and 1980s. Later, the artist created a small female bronze torso, showing the body leaning in motion, with knees bent, further developing the motif of the bending female figure. The torso of a leaning woman, treated in a similarly generalised and monumental way, was also finally rendered in granite. Smilingis’ granite sculpture The Bather (1984) stands in Senvagė Park in Panevėžys.

Text author Jurgita Ludavičienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius
© LATGA, Vilnius 2025