At the Vilnius auction: a work whose mere appearance in public will leave a trace in art history.

“The collection of this Vilnius auction is divided into seven themes, and in total it consists of 160 lots: paintings and graphics, sculptures, posters, books and other collectible Lithuanian values. Art is an integral part of our lives that makes us happy and excited. Especially when we are faced with special works that complement our art history and sometimes even rewrite it ”, says Dr., director of the Vilnius Auction House, art critic. Simona Skaisgirytė-Makselienė.

This time it is the work “Portrait of an Unknown Noble Woman” (mid-19th century), which entered the auction collection and was painted by the famous Lithuanian painter and decorator Napoleon Michał Juliusz Iłłakowicz, 1811-1961, known as Cibulskis.

Vilnius Academy of Arts, Institute of Art History, Principal Investigator dr. (hp) Rūta Janonienė attributes it to the generation of students from the Vilnius School of Art, who participated in 1830-1831. and later, after the defeat, he was forced to emigrate.

Born in the Biržai area, the artist studied drawing at the Vilnius Gymnasium with Motiejus Pšibilskis (1795–1867). he began studying painting at the Department of Painting and Drawing at Vilnius University with Jonas Rustemas (1762–1835).

The art critic who has studied his work the most points out that while living in exile, he continued his studies in various workshops and studied from such famous French artists as Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri (1782-1868) and Michael Martin Drölling (1786). . –1851), working at the Royal Cavalry School l’Ecole Militaire de Saumur) as assistant professor of lithography to Charles Aubry (c. 1810-1840), as well as in London at Queen Victoria Manor, where in 1854 he registered a patent for the production of specially designed adjustable size picture frames.

NMJ Ylakavičius has painted works of various genres, but became more famous as a portraitist, many of which were commissioned by emigrants from the Republic of the Two Nations living in Paris and London. The painter also includes wall paintings in Lithuania (frescoes from the Smurgainiai church, altar paintings from Vidiškiai, Sudervė, Juzefovas churches).

Dr. According to R. Janonienė, NMJ Ylakavičius is characterized by careful and delicate painting, precise academic drawing, simple but free compositions, and the “Portrait of an Unknown Woman” from the auction collection LXVII Vilnius has all the characteristics of drawing. characteristic of this artist.

“A job signed, the artist’s signature leaves no doubt as to its authenticity. Judging by the style and details of the hairstyle and clothing of the depicted woman, the painting was created in the 19th century. 1850 ”, points out the art critic, adding that the cameo, which became extremely popular as an accessory in Victorian times.

The value of this work is complemented by special frames: 19th century. In the late 18th century, the portrait was framed in 1887-1910. The Rödskog Guldlistefabrik frame company, operating in Norway, is attested by the surviving official seal of the frame manufacturer.

“Most of N. Ylakavičius’ creative legacy still extends to private collections abroad, so the appearance of each of his new works on the Lithuanian art market is a significant event for our art history”, says Dr. R. Janonienė. Several paintings by this artist, one of which is a self-portrait of the painter, are kept in the National Museum of Art of Lithuania.

In addition to this special work, the Vilnius auction collection this time also features an extremely strong “Lithuanian Art” rubric. Among the well-known authors, such as Zigmas Petravičius (1862-1955), Adomas Galdikas (1893-1969), Leonas Katinas (1907-1984), Augustinas Savickas (1919-2012), Kazė Zimblytė (1933-1999), Vincas Kisarauskas (1934 –1988), Jūratis Zalensas (1952–2015), Klaudijus Petrulis (1951–2014), Stasys Eidrigevičius, Jonas Daniliauskas, Audronė Petrašiūnaitė, Rimas Zigmas Bičiūnas, Aloyčzas Stasiužas Duskišytrasy and other very expressive works stand out.

These are the paintings of the landscape virtuoso Jonas Mackevičius (1872-1954) “Orphans in March in Positano” (before 1929) and “Capri” (1914-1929), created during his life on the island of Capri (Italy), which is one of the most appreciated in the artist’s work. This is for a simple reason: although J. Mackevičius’ creative legacy is considerable, many of his works (and especially from the island of Capri) were sold to tourists while traveling and thus entered private collections without further ado. possibility of appearing on the art market. again.

There is no doubt that the work of art lovers and connoisseurs will surely be attracted to the work of the naive art representative, the self-taught painter Petronėlė Gerlikienė (1905-1979) “Summer. The meadows are offered to Christ ”(1977). Expressive colors, lines and figures in movement: this work reflects everything that is characteristic of all his work.

Another outstanding work in which, in a sense, the friendship between the two creators is immortalized is the portrait of Professor Kairiūkštis (1962) painted by the artist Jonas Švažas (1925-1976).

It is known that J. Švažas, while studying fresco mosaic art at the Kaunas Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts, met the painter, art critic Vytautas Kairiūkštis (1890-1961) and was greatly influenced by his approach to art. .

But the painting is not painted by the aforementioned artist, but by his brother Jonas Kairiūkštis (1896-1957), a very famous person of that time, together with dr. Jonas Šliūpas and others created the Laisvamaniai movement in Lithuania, contributed to cultural journals, as well as an excellent physician, pioneer of clinical and experimental pharmacology in Lithuania, who contributed a lot to the development of a neobenzinol preparation for tuberculosis and allergy.

It is not known what prompted J. Švaža to create such a portrait already after the professor’s death, but probably in the run-up to the fifth anniversary of his death, the goal was to perpetuate his memory.

Among other things, the traditional heading “Art of the diaspora” will be highlighted, the core of which is made up of a collection of works by the artist Pranas Lapė (1921-2010), considered the pioneer of Lithuanian abstractionism. Alongside him are other renowned composers: Jonas Rimša (1903-1978), Pranas Gailius (1928-2015), Alfonsas Dargis (1909-1996), Nijolė Vedegytė-Palubinskienė, Vytautas Ignas (1924-2009) and Vaclovas Rataiskis- Rats (1910-1973).

This set of auctions will also include two relatively new and unusual “In Focus” sections. In one of them, we take a look at poster art – there will be agitation, theater posters, and movie commercials. In the next “In Focus” section, we’ll introduce Gen Y stars who are making strong strides in the art world. They are interesting because they were born and raised in a completely different, computerized world, they have a completely different “context” and a very liberal worldview. It will be difficult to predict how they will succeed in the Vilnius auction, but it will be interesting to see how they try, ”says the director of the Vilnius auction house that it will pay off in the end for art lovers. meet the authors who are likely to be the leading painters in a decade.

And among them, by the way, as in today’s political sky, the creators are women: Samanta Augutė, Dovilė Bagdonaitė, Aurelija Bernataitė, HermanDrowning (Evaldas Bubinas), Algimantas Rokas Černiauskas, Kipras Černiauskas, Mantas Daujotas, Felicija Kaziulion, L, Mantas Daujotas, Felicija Kaziulion, L, Kntlytė, Petras Lincevičius, Goda Lukaitė, Akvilė Malukienė, Rūta Matulevičiūtė, Kristina Mažeikaitė, Indrė Mikašauskaitė, Edvinas Mikulskis, Eglė Norkutė, Viktoras Paukšny Tulatulavi, Gabrielė Tachulavi.

The column “Lithuanian Graphics” promises interesting acquaintances, in which A. Galdikas will reveal a completely different breadth from that of the painter, but for the graphic artist, it will be possible to take a closer look at the illustrations by Rimtautas Gibavičius (1935-1993), see Elvyra Kairiūkštytė (1950–2006), Rimvydas Kepežinskas, Rimvydas Ray Bartkus, Laisvydė Šalčiūtė, and others.

A surprise awaits here: this is an engraving “Landscape Research” (1994) made by Arūnas Gelūnas, the director of the Lithuanian National Art Museum, former Minister of Culture and UNESCO Ambassador, specializing in graphics, with the technique reservoir (1994). The work created during his studies at the Vilnius Academy of Arts will be a beautiful premiere for everyone, as well as the debut of this author at the Vilnius Auction House.

It will be possible to get acquainted and take a closer look at the complete collection of auction securities of LXVII Vilnius from 2021. May 26 At the exhibition installed in the Tolerance Center (Naugarduko str. 10, Vilnius). And its finale will be crowned in 2021. May 28 at 6 pm the auction will take place.

You can find the complete LXVII Vilnius auction collection HERE.