Pohulanka 100 years ago

Series ‘Old Vilnius’, 1926, fascicle II.

Hoppen recreated the view of Vilnius from Pohulanka (now J. Basanavičiaus St) of a hundred years previously. He ‘removed’ the large late 19th and early 20th-century buildings from both sides of the street, and left just the view from the hill: a city of churches situated below, framed by an arch of trees and Baroque-style clouds. Visitors coming from Kaunas had their first encounter with the city from this wide and spacious view, which gave them an unforgettable impression. The beaten and bumpy road, a stagecoach lurching under the weight of its luggage, figures of people, an inn on the hill, and ducks on the roadside: all these details recreate the atmosphere of travelling in those times.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA II (2015). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė, KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: “Vilnius. Topophilia. Views of Vilnius from the collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Laima Laučkaitė)

Series ‘Old Vilnius’, 1926, fascicle II.

Hoppen recreated the view of Vilnius from Pohulanka (now J. Basanavičiaus St) of a hundred years previously. He ‘removed’ the large late 19th and early 20th-century buildings from both sides of the street, and left just the view from the hill: a city of churches situated below, framed by an arch of trees and Baroque-style clouds. Visitors coming from Kaunas had their first encounter with the city from this wide and spacious view, which gave them an unforgettable impression. The beaten and bumpy road, a stagecoach lurching under the weight of its luggage, figures of people, an inn on the hill, and ducks on the roadside: all these details recreate the atmosphere of travelling in those times.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA II (2015). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė, KAUNAS–VILNIUS / 1918–1945 (2021). Compilers and text authors Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė
Expositions: “Vilnius. Topophilia. Views of Vilnius from the collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Laima Laučkaitė)