A view of Vilnius from Užupis

The Cracow painter Ignacy Pinkas (1888–1935) first came to Vilnius in the spring of 1919. He came with the Polish army to take the city back from the Bolsheviks. Pinkas studied at Cracow Academy of Art, but the First World War drew him into the military fray. The patriotic youth joined the Polish regiments led by Józef Piłsudski, saw active service, and was taken prisoner in Austria-Hungary. During the interwar period, he lived in Cracow, and in the 1920s he travelled extensively, visiting old cities in Central Europe, such as Prague, Lviv and Vilnius, and painting lively architectural themes. In the early spring of 1919, Pinkas began to paint a view of Vilnius from the bank of the River Vilnia, beside the house at 36 Užupio Street. The horizontal picture takes in a wide panorama, from the Russian Church of the Holy Mother of God and a long building with a blue roof on Malūnų Street on the left, to the Bernadine Church on the right and the river below. He was charmed by the fresh view of the city in spring, with patches of snow, clear cobalt blue shadows, and ultramarine skies. The city emerges in the foreground between the fragile branches of shrubs. The work is unfinished, but the sketchy drawing, the unpainted parts, and the minimalist expression make it translucent, and bring it closer to the non-finito aesthetics of Japanese painting on silk.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė

The Cracow painter Ignacy Pinkas (1888–1935) first came to Vilnius in the spring of 1919. He came with the Polish army to take the city back from the Bolsheviks. Pinkas studied at Cracow Academy of Art, but the First World War drew him into the military fray. The patriotic youth joined the Polish regiments led by Józef Piłsudski, saw active service, and was taken prisoner in Austria-Hungary. During the interwar period, he lived in Cracow, and in the 1920s he travelled extensively, visiting old cities in Central Europe, such as Prague, Lviv and Vilnius, and painting lively architectural themes. In the early spring of 1919, Pinkas began to paint a view of Vilnius from the bank of the River Vilnia, beside the house at 36 Užupio Street. The horizontal picture takes in a wide panorama, from the Russian Church of the Holy Mother of God and a long building with a blue roof on Malūnų Street on the left, to the Bernadine Church on the right and the river below. He was charmed by the fresh view of the city in spring, with patches of snow, clear cobalt blue shadows, and ultramarine skies. The city emerges in the foreground between the fragile branches of shrubs. The work is unfinished, but the sketchy drawing, the unpainted parts, and the minimalist expression make it translucent, and bring it closer to the non-finito aesthetics of Japanese painting on silk.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė