News
2023-07-10
"Life in Wandering" – the 120th anniversary exhibition of Jonas Rimša in Anykščiai
On July 12, at 2:30 p.m., in the Anykščiai Chapel (Vilniaus street 36, Anykščiai), there will be a presentation of the exhibition "Life in Wandering", dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the artist Jonas Rimša's birth, who originated from the Anykščiai region. Works for the exhibition were also loaned by the Lewben Art Foundation. The unique exhibition in the Chapel will be supplemented by a virtual reality film based on Jonas Rimša paintings.
Jonas Rimša is a painter who was born in Anykščiai region, Svėdasai, then went off to immigrate and spend the bigger part of his life in between the American continents, even becoming famous in Latin America.
Thematically the artist covered a variety of topics, like the specificity of the American Indian life, the interchange between their archaic local cultural traditions and the Spanish-brought European Romanesque culture, or the spirit of the jungle – the descendants of Indians and Tahitians – all of which Jonas Rimša explored in great detail.
Jonas Rimša has left a distinctive mark in Bolivian art as a painter and art educator, while Lithuania is interested in him as in the artist who has granted exotic colors to the Lithuanian fine art. He was the first Lithuanian artist who expressed serious interest in American Indians and discovered their true spirit. The painter has exceptional merit for the Bolivian culture: he was awarded the highest civilian award the National Order of the Andean Condor (1950) and conferred with the titles Honorable Citizen of the Bolivian State and Honorary Professor of the University of Sucre (1974).
His legacy amounts to about one and a half thousand paintings. A part of the paintings has been brought back to Lithuania, now they are in the collections of major Lithuanian museums and of private foundations or collectors.
More information available here.
The exhibition can be visited until August 10th, then from September 11th to the 30th.
