Exhibitions of Lithuania Art Museum in Paežeriai mansion-house
21st May – 30th September 2016
On 21-st of May 2016, at 2 pm. three exhibitions of Lithuania Art Museum will be opened in Paežeriai mansion-house. The exhibitions will be ran until 30th of September.
Exhibitions:
Vilnius and its people in ‘Album de Wilna’ by Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński
Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński (1806–1885), its compiler and publisher, was a doctor, art collector and patron from Ukmergė Powiat. He attended Troškūnai Gymnasium, studied medicine at Vilnius University, and in Paris, practising as a doctor in Warsaw in 1831. He started collecting art and antiques related to the past of Vilnius as early as in his student days. When in Paris, Jan Kazimierz had a live interest in the arts, attending various libraries and museums. After returning to Lithuania in 1835, Jan Kazimierz devoted all of his leisure to studies of his region’s history, was interested in the fate of cultural valuables, and wrote on matters of art and education. Seeing his homeland’s cultural heritage on the verge of disappearance, in 1845 he went on to publish a compilation of images of architectural and artistic monuments of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, called ‘Album de Wilna’ (‘The Album of Vilnius’). He continued his publishing activities for 40 years, until his death in 1885.
‘Album de Wilna’ printed in Lemercier Lithographic Printing House in Paris, which employed selected French lithographers and etchers. The album was published as a series of fascicles. There were six series of varied format and volume with a total of more than 350 graphic works, such as lithographs, chromolithographs, and copper and steel etchings.
The exhibition displays images of Vilnius – poetic, subtly coloured lithographs of detailed masterful drawings. They not only give a good understanding of the old architecture of the city, but also let us feel its spirit. Images of historic persons are important for learning about the past, while portraits of Wilczyński’s contemporaries are instructive for understanding the period he lived in.
Rasa Adomaitienė
The most beautiful towns of Western Europe, their mansions and parks in the collections of the Lithuanian Art Museum
The collection of prints from foreign countries of the Lithuanian Art Museum abounds in views of different European towns with strong focus on panoramas, characteristic architectural ensembles and natural motifs. Of exceptional scenic beauty are town landscapes created in the middle of the 18th century in England by John (1701–1779) and Thomas (1712–1767) Bowles from the three-generation of engravers and publishers. A water colour tinted series of etchings composed of some of the most impressive perspective views of central Europe is attributed to the burin of these artists. The series features panoramas of London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Venice, Florence and other towns, highlights examples of the stylish historical architecture and renders marvellous details of buildings, and the townsfolk engaged in their daily occupations. The exhibition is expanded by the tinted etchings by the British John Donowell (1723–1793), offering the image of suburban villas and a panorama of London.
The exhibited compositions by the British masters are dominated by a clear and detailed drawing, graceful and smooth cutting, attention to style and ornateness as well as the universally recognized taste. The engravings created in the new classical style seem to transport us to the remote historical period when the graphic arts in England were elevated to the new level, the engravings were greatly fancied for, bought and accumulated in private collections, in many a home library. The townspeople who collected the sets of prints showing views of foreign countries thus satisfied their constant thirst for new knowledge and travel; similar albums of views were extremely popular in all layers of society.
Ilona Mažeikienė
NAPOLEON ORDA (1807–1883)
In splendour stand your mansions, fatherland… .
Maironis
The history of the nobility is an inherent part of every national culture. The past of Lithuania is closely woven with the culture nourished in the noblemen’s manor houses. These ancient mansions and castles are significant symbols of the history of the country. This was well understood by the 19th century. artist Napoleon Orda, who called Lithuania his fatherland.
Orda was an artist and musician of the epoch of Romanticism, he lived and created during the years of the Tsarist rule. He was among the inspirers of the national movement of the second half of the 19th century. Though barely speaking the language, he considered himself Lithuanian and dedicated all his energies to the spread of the unique heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Born on 19 February 1907 in Warazewitschy near Pinsk (now Belarus), he started schooling at Svislowitch gymnasium. He subsequently studied at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Vilnius University, but did not graduate as was excluded for the participation in a secret student organization. The artist took active part in the 1931 uprising. Fleeing his arrest and deportation, he left abroad. He arrived in Paris and 1939 started attending Pierre Girard’s art studio. He studied music under the guidance of the composer Fryderyk Chopin and communicated with the poet Adam Mickiewicz. He produced his first drawings during his 1840–1842 tour of France.
In 1843 Orda married French Irène Bouglé and started working at the Opera of Paris. He returned to his fatherland after the amnesty and embarked on explorations of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He took haste to immortalize the disappearing castles, mansions, churches and patrimonial homes of celebrated contemporary artists and historians. Himself an estate owner, he had a thorough understanding of a structure and artistic features of countryside manor houses. Most of his compositions feature majestic mansions surrounded by lush verdure, often drawn from sever al vantage points.
In 1875–1882 in Warsaw, at Maksymilian Fajans lithographic printers, Orda financed the publishing of a volume of 260 lithographs, An Album of Polish Historic Sites (Album widoków historycznych Polski). The images were skilfully transferred from Orda’s drawings into lithographs by the Polish artist Alojzy Misierowicz. The album was composed of eight series of lithographs. Orda intended to continue the production of his volume, yet was stopped by his deteriorating health.
This educational exhibition shows copies of Orda’s lithographs from the Lithuanian Art Museum and the watercolours published in the Lithuanian monograph Napoleon Orda. Landscapes of the Ancient Lithuania by Vytautas Levandauskas and Renata Vaičekonytė-Kepežinskienė. The core of the exhibition is architectural monuments now in Lithuania, augmented by the lithographs of patrimonial homes of the19th century. notable poets, writers and composers. As most of these architectural monuments have not survived into the present day, the architectural landscapes by Orda represent an important iconographic property.
Rasa Adomaitienė
