Vilnius Art Monuments

In the interwar period, Lithuania lived with the slogan “We will not rest without Vilnius”, but when Vilnius was returned to Lithuania, it turned out that Lithuanians were hardly familiar with the city. This gap was filled by several authors. In 1940, the book Art Monuments of Vilnius was published by Jonas Grinius (1902–1980), a graduate of the universities of Kaunas, Grenoble and Sorbonne, and a lecturer of Vytautas Magnus University. His guide was a kind of lecture on the architectural styles of Vilnius from Gothic to Neoclassicism, told through monuments.

In 1940, The Art of Vilnius was published. The author of the book, Mikalojus Vorobjovas (1903–1954), after his studies in the universities of Marburg, Berlin and Munich, worked at a Kaunas bookshop. A talented storyteller, in his book he described the architectural styles of Vilnius from Gothic to Classicism, showing static architecture as a movement of forms and music in space, and conveying the change of its moods. Alongside, he sought to bring out the Lithuanian features of the city: “A panoramic view of Vilnius tells us that it is a city of Highland Lithuania, that the people who have been living there for many centuries vividly respond to the beauty of nature and architecture, and that its genius – as well as its ‘genius loci’ – is drawn to lyricism and romanticism.”

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

Expositions: ‘Vilnius Forever. A Dialogue of Artworks and Guides to the City’, 25 May 2022 – 30 April 2023 Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curator Laima Laučkaitė.

In the interwar period, Lithuania lived with the slogan “We will not rest without Vilnius”, but when Vilnius was returned to Lithuania, it turned out that Lithuanians were hardly familiar with the city. This gap was filled by several authors. In 1940, the book Art Monuments of Vilnius was published by Jonas Grinius (1902–1980), a graduate of the universities of Kaunas, Grenoble and Sorbonne, and a lecturer of Vytautas Magnus University. His guide was a kind of lecture on the architectural styles of Vilnius from Gothic to Neoclassicism, told through monuments.

In 1940, The Art of Vilnius was published. The author of the book, Mikalojus Vorobjovas (1903–1954), after his studies in the universities of Marburg, Berlin and Munich, worked at a Kaunas bookshop. A talented storyteller, in his book he described the architectural styles of Vilnius from Gothic to Classicism, showing static architecture as a movement of forms and music in space, and conveying the change of its moods. Alongside, he sought to bring out the Lithuanian features of the city: “A panoramic view of Vilnius tells us that it is a city of Highland Lithuania, that the people who have been living there for many centuries vividly respond to the beauty of nature and architecture, and that its genius – as well as its ‘genius loci’ – is drawn to lyricism and romanticism.”

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

Expositions: ‘Vilnius Forever. A Dialogue of Artworks and Guides to the City’, 25 May 2022 – 30 April 2023 Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curator Laima Laučkaitė.