14 March, 5.30 pm “Reminiscences”, an exhibition of reproductions of paintings by the famous interwar Lithuanian artist Eugenijus Kulvītis (1883-1959), will be opened at Klaipėda Art Gallery “LYCEUM” (Danės g. 9), presenting 19 reproduced paintings by the artist – self-portraits, portraits, still lifes, historical scenes and landscapes created in far-away Columbia.
Rehabilitating your grandfather’s legacy
The idea of presenting the exhibition at the LYCEUM Gallery was conceived by the grandson of E. Kulvītis – folk artist Aleksas Eugenijus Kulvītis. Although A. E. Kulvietis did not know his grandfather, he was born and grew up surrounded by an environment and artwork that was full of Lithuanianness and patriotism.
More than 20 years ago, A. E. Kulvietis settled in Lithuania and began a journey of making sense of his grandfather’s creative legacy – to this day, A. E. Kulvietis is actively engaged in the dissemination of E. Kulvītis’ work, which has been undeservedly forgotten, and in the search for the over 2,000 works of art that have been spread around the world.
Not long ago, in the summer of 2024, the Old Bank of Lithuania building in Kretinga hosted an exhibition of reproductions of paintings by E. Kulvietis, entitled “Reminiscences” (curated by Darius Vaičekauskas and Alfonsas Lekavičius), which became the cornerstone event of the Kretinga City Festival art project “Kretinga Art Event 2024”. The reproductions of E. Kulvītis’s paintings, which are scattered around the historic bank building, are symbolically placed next to a triptych by the artist’s contemporary, Petras Kalpukas.
Paintings created in Colombia
Due to the circumstances of his life, Kulvietis suffered the burden of emigration on several occasions – from 1910 to 1914 he lived and worked as a photographer in the United States of America, in 1944 he was forced to flee to Germany, and in 1948 he emigrated to Colombia.
Constantly homesick, he painted his most emotionally mature and powerful works in Colombia, characterised by a realistic manner, respect for academicism, precise attention to detail, subtle colours, and a symbiosis between drawing and painting.
About Eugenijus Kulvietis
Eugenijus Kulvietis is a famous Lithuanian interwar artist, teacher, gardener, polyglot, social activist, scout, beekeeper, active Esperanto scholar. The artist was born in 1883 in Alunčiai Manor, Panevėžys District, and died in 1959 in exile in Medellin, Colombia.
Famous in the 20th century. beginning A representative of classicism, he was a master of still-life paintings, who worked together with his contemporaries Adamas Galdikas, Petras Kalpokas, Jonas Šileika, Kajetonas Šklėrius, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius and Adomas Varnas. Due to his emigration to South America, the author has been forgotten and lacks a proper image in the history of Lithuanian art.
E. Kulvietis painted about 3,000 paintings during his lifetime, in 1922-1940 he actively participated in exhibitions in Vilnius, Kaunas, Šiauliai, Ukmergė, Panevėžys.
Most of Kulvītis’ works are spread all over the world, adorning private galleries and collections in Lithuania, Colombia, the United States of America, Canada, England, Germany, Sweden, France and Italy.
Currently, the personal collection of E. Kulvītis in Colombia consists of 48 paintings, which the grandson’s family hopes to restore and bring back to Lithuania.
