Wandering Women II / Irrende Frauen II

A continuous stream of Jews and Lithuanians made their way to South America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries during the era of transatlantic mass migration. Most emigres could only afford the cheapest third-class passage. Lasar Segall (1891–1957) was one of the rare few who were able to travel to Brazil first class. The son of an affluent Vilnius Jew, he travelled to visit relatives who had already settled there, received a warm welcome, and integrated successfully into the Brazilian art scene. Despite his more privileged position, Segall was keenly aware of and sympathetic towards other emigres from Eastern Europe who found themselves in more difficult circumstances. Throughout his life, he repeatedly returned to the theme of migrants, refugees and wanderers in his work.

Segall first went to Brazil in 1912, lived there for a year, and then returned to Europe. He left for Sao Paulo again in 1923, this time permanently. Between those two attempts at emigration, he lived in Germany and Lithuania. He was drawn to Vilnius by his nostalgia for his home town, while Berlin and Dresden offered him the opportunity to immerse himself in the cultural life of big cities. In Dresden in 1919, Segall co-founded the renowned Dresden Secessionist group with Conrad Felixmuller, Otto Dix, Gela Forster and other artists. That same year, he created the woodcut Wandering Women I, and a year later, a second variation on the same theme, Wandering Women II. Both graphic works embodied the groups ideals. The young and politically engaged artists rejected the romanticised aesthetics of previous generations, and, as their manifesto proclaimed, sought a new expression for a new world. In creative terms, this meant having the courage to address the trauma of the First World War and depict an unembellished reality, such as war invalids, alcoholism and prostitution. Wandering Women II highlights another marginalised and vulnerable group in society, women and girls made homeless by the war. Their painful existence is emphasised by their deformed bodies, with big heads and fearsomely enlarged eyes.

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

 

 

The diaspora. The Greek word diaspeirein means ‘to scatter, to disperse’. The noun diaspora was first used in the Septuagint (the translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek) to describe the spread of the Jews among the Gentiles. In Ancient Greece, the concept of the diaspora had a positive connotation, and included migration and colonisation. In contrast to the Greeks, the Jews associated the notion of a diaspora with forced dispersion: ‘And the Lord will scatter you among all people, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known’ (Deuteronomy 28, 64). Thus, for the Jews, the diaspora acquired the meaning of exile, and was perceived as a punishment. Jews have been living in the diaspora for more than 2,500 years.

The Jew wandering around the world without a homeland is a recurring motif in Jewish art. The theme of migration and wandering runs through the entire life and work of Lasar Segall. Eternal Wanderers and Wandering Women are self-portraits: a Litvak Jew who cannot find his place in the world and keeps wandering. All his life, the artist tried to integrate into various religious and cultural communities, but even the hot Brazilian sun could not cure his Litvak melancholy.

Text author Vilma Gradinskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album STORIES OF LITVAK ART (2023). Compiler and author Vilma Gradinskaitė, ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė

A continuous stream of Jews and Lithuanians made their way to South America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries during the era of transatlantic mass migration. Most emigres could only afford the cheapest third-class passage. Lasar Segall (1891–1957) was one of the rare few who were able to travel to Brazil first class. The son of an affluent Vilnius Jew, he travelled to visit relatives who had already settled there, received a warm welcome, and integrated successfully into the Brazilian art scene. Despite his more privileged position, Segall was keenly aware of and sympathetic towards other emigres from Eastern Europe who found themselves in more difficult circumstances. Throughout his life, he repeatedly returned to the theme of migrants, refugees and wanderers in his work.

Segall first went to Brazil in 1912, lived there for a year, and then returned to Europe. He left for Sao Paulo again in 1923, this time permanently. Between those two attempts at emigration, he lived in Germany and Lithuania. He was drawn to Vilnius by his nostalgia for his home town, while Berlin and Dresden offered him the opportunity to immerse himself in the cultural life of big cities. In Dresden in 1919, Segall co-founded the renowned Dresden Secessionist group with Conrad Felixmuller, Otto Dix, Gela Forster and other artists. That same year, he created the woodcut Wandering Women I, and a year later, a second variation on the same theme, Wandering Women II. Both graphic works embodied the groups ideals. The young and politically engaged artists rejected the romanticised aesthetics of previous generations, and, as their manifesto proclaimed, sought a new expression for a new world. In creative terms, this meant having the courage to address the trauma of the First World War and depict an unembellished reality, such as war invalids, alcoholism and prostitution. Wandering Women II highlights another marginalised and vulnerable group in society, women and girls made homeless by the war. Their painful existence is emphasised by their deformed bodies, with big heads and fearsomely enlarged eyes.

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

 

 

The diaspora. The Greek word diaspeirein means ‘to scatter, to disperse’. The noun diaspora was first used in the Septuagint (the translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek) to describe the spread of the Jews among the Gentiles. In Ancient Greece, the concept of the diaspora had a positive connotation, and included migration and colonisation. In contrast to the Greeks, the Jews associated the notion of a diaspora with forced dispersion: ‘And the Lord will scatter you among all people, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known’ (Deuteronomy 28, 64). Thus, for the Jews, the diaspora acquired the meaning of exile, and was perceived as a punishment. Jews have been living in the diaspora for more than 2,500 years.

The Jew wandering around the world without a homeland is a recurring motif in Jewish art. The theme of migration and wandering runs through the entire life and work of Lasar Segall. Eternal Wanderers and Wandering Women are self-portraits: a Litvak Jew who cannot find his place in the world and keeps wandering. All his life, the artist tried to integrate into various religious and cultural communities, but even the hot Brazilian sun could not cure his Litvak melancholy.

Text author Vilma Gradinskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album STORIES OF LITVAK ART (2023). Compiler and author Vilma Gradinskaitė, ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė