The Sisters Irena and Joanna Karpińskie
29 October, 2026 – 28 February, 2027
This exhibition presents, for the first time, a comprehensive overview of the artistic legacy of the sisters Irena and Joanna Karpińska. Vilnius played a particularly important role in their lives: Irena and Joanna began studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Stephen Báthory University in 1928 and 1929, respectively, and it was there that their artistic outlooks, approaches, and individual styles matured. They never forgot Vilnius, and throughout their lives they shared memories of the city and the people they had met there.
The exhibition grew out of an intention and a need to correct attribution errors and restore the true authorship of two works by Joanna Karpińska: the colour woodcut At the Table Under an Umbrella (1934), long known and exhibited as the work of Joanna’s peer and colleague Hanna Milewska; and the painting Celebration in the City Garden (1934), from the collection of the Vilnius Academy of Arts Museum, which had been attributed to Irena Karpińska rather than to Joanna.
Through collaboration with the Vilnius Academy of Arts Museum, the Lithuanian Central State Archives, the artists’ relatives from the Jagodziński family, and the Regional Museum in Siedlce, Poland, a collection of the sisters’ artworks and biographical documents has been assembled to introduce this artistic duo. The exhibition not only offers insight into the artistic legacies of Irena and Joanna, but also deepens our understanding of the curriculum at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Stephen Báthory University, the artistic aspirations of its students and graduates, and the ways in which they developed and realised their work. It also represents a significant chapter in the history of women artists in Vilnius, adding names, facts, and artworks that are little-known or entirely unfamiliar to this newly written page of cultural history, while providing new contexts and new meanings for those already known.
Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
Ilona Mažeikienė
We sincerely thank Ms Iwona Jagodzińska, whose efforts have made it possible to present the Karpińska sisters’ complete pre-war body of work. We are also grateful to the families of Agnieszka and Bartosz Jagodziński and Jacek Dehnel for their careful preservation of this artistic legacy, their generous cooperation, and their donation of two graphic works by Irena Karpińska to the collection of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art.
The opening of the exhibition „The Sisters Irena and Joanna Karpińskie” will take place on Thursday, October 29, at 6:00 PM, at the Vytautas Kasiulis Museum of Art.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a discussion featuring Jacek Dehnel – a representative of contemporary Polish literature, poet, writer, translator, painter, and a great-grand-nephew of the Karpińska sisters – along with Birutė Jonuškaitė, the translator of his debut novel „Lala”, who will also moderate the conversation. We invite you to attend this event on October 30 at 5:00 PM.
Curators: Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, Ilona Mažeikienė
Architect Ūla Žebrauskaitė-Malinauskė
Designer Dominyka Gurskaitė
Conservators: Paulius Zovė, Lina Jurnienė
The exhibition is partially funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania and the Polish Institute in Vilnius.
Media partners: LRT, JCDecaux, Polish Institute in Vilnius.
Exhibition partners: The Jagodziński family, Regional Museum in Siedlce, Vilnius Academy of Arts Museum, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE, Lithuanian Central State Archives.
1 Goštauto st, Vilnius, Lithuania
+370 5 261 6764.
kasiulio.muziejus@lndm.lt
