Young female nude

Edward Karniej (1890–1942), who was born in Vilnius and studied art at Stephen Batory University under Ludomir Sleńdziński, is a typical proponent of Vilnius Neo-Classicism. He worked in the city as a stage designer, but also found time for painting (the Lithuanian Art Museum has an excellent self-portrait done by him in 1929). Although he moved to Toruń in 1932, the golden-haired model he painted during the war did not differ from the works of his Vilnius period, which shows that the effects of Sleńdziński’s teaching were not eroded by either the years that had eslapsed since his studies or by the distance between Toruń and Vilnius. On the other hand, Portrait of a boy (1936), which is now in the Lithuanian Art Museum, was painted during his Toruń period, but the signature shows that it was painted in Vilnius. Hence, Karniej overcame the distance between Toruń and Vilnius, not only in his heart and his mind, but physically as well, for he also spent some time in his native city.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

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

Edward Karniej (1890–1942), who was born in Vilnius and studied art at Stephen Batory University under Ludomir Sleńdziński, is a typical proponent of Vilnius Neo-Classicism. He worked in the city as a stage designer, but also found time for painting (the Lithuanian Art Museum has an excellent self-portrait done by him in 1929). Although he moved to Toruń in 1932, the golden-haired model he painted during the war did not differ from the works of his Vilnius period, which shows that the effects of Sleńdziński’s teaching were not eroded by either the years that had eslapsed since his studies or by the distance between Toruń and Vilnius. On the other hand, Portrait of a boy (1936), which is now in the Lithuanian Art Museum, was painted during his Toruń period, but the signature shows that it was painted in Vilnius. Hence, Karniej overcame the distance between Toruń and Vilnius, not only in his heart and his mind, but physically as well, for he also spent some time in his native city.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

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