Country House

The Lithuanian landscape. Jews have been seen as urban dwellers since Ancient times. In Europe, they were strictly prohibited from buying or renting land, so they had neither a physical nor spiritual connection with the land. However, the Litvaks living in shtetls gradually became attached to the land, and this bond was strengthened by a decree issued in 1804 by Tsar Alexander I allowing them to buy land in the western provinces of the Russian Empire. Lithuania’s Jews became involved in agriculture, and horticulture. Several Jewish farmers’ villages grew up, including Degsnė (formerly Novosiolka) in the Valkininkai district, which was founded in 1848 and still exists. Yiddish songs reveal the close affinity of Litvaks to the land. Some celebrate the hardships and the joys of farming life, and express the hope that the children will continue to love and work the land, while others point out that the bread eaten by Jews was grown in their own fields.

The Litvak identity, closely connected to the land, was developed by the Lithuanian Jewish community over the centuries, and the landscape became a frequent and familiar motif in works by artists. The painters Benzion Zukerman, Augustinas Savickas, Solomonas Teitelbaumas and others imbued Lithuania with an atmosphere of love, longing, and poetic melancholy.

Text author Vilma Gradinskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album STORIES OF LITVAK ART (2023). Compiler and author Vilma Gradinskaitė
Expositions: “Lithuania in Litvak Arts”, 6 June – 16 November, Tolerance Centre of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum (Naugarduko St. 10/2, Vilnius). Curator Vilma Gradinskaitė

The Lithuanian landscape. Jews have been seen as urban dwellers since Ancient times. In Europe, they were strictly prohibited from buying or renting land, so they had neither a physical nor spiritual connection with the land. However, the Litvaks living in shtetls gradually became attached to the land, and this bond was strengthened by a decree issued in 1804 by Tsar Alexander I allowing them to buy land in the western provinces of the Russian Empire. Lithuania’s Jews became involved in agriculture, and horticulture. Several Jewish farmers’ villages grew up, including Degsnė (formerly Novosiolka) in the Valkininkai district, which was founded in 1848 and still exists. Yiddish songs reveal the close affinity of Litvaks to the land. Some celebrate the hardships and the joys of farming life, and express the hope that the children will continue to love and work the land, while others point out that the bread eaten by Jews was grown in their own fields.

The Litvak identity, closely connected to the land, was developed by the Lithuanian Jewish community over the centuries, and the landscape became a frequent and familiar motif in works by artists. The painters Benzion Zukerman, Augustinas Savickas, Solomonas Teitelbaumas and others imbued Lithuania with an atmosphere of love, longing, and poetic melancholy.

Text author Vilma Gradinskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album STORIES OF LITVAK ART (2023). Compiler and author Vilma Gradinskaitė
Expositions: “Lithuania in Litvak Arts”, 6 June – 16 November, Tolerance Centre of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum (Naugarduko St. 10/2, Vilnius). Curator Vilma Gradinskaitė