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National Gallery of Art
of Lithuanian Art Museum
Konstitucijos 22, Vilnius
Lithuania
 
Photos by Raimondas Urbakavicius
The Lithuanian Art Museum is proud to announce the opening of the National Gallery of Art on Saturday 20 June, 2009. The gallery will be officially opened by Mr. Valdas Adamkus the President of the Republic of Lithuania.
The National Gallery of Art (NGA) is Lithuania's museum of 20th and 21st century art that will house and exhibit the extensive national art collection of Lithuanian art from 1900 (of 46,000 objects) - and present a dynamic program of international expositions of modern and contemporary art.
The NGA's principal mission will be tracing the development of Lithuanian art in relation to the development of Lithuanian statehood in relation to the turbulent course of 20th century European history, including; the early Tsarist secession, the foundation of the first Lithuanian Republic (1918-1939) the capital of which was in Kaunas, the Soviet occupation (1940-1990), and the development of the new Lithuanian Republic since 1990 and the consequent formation of a contemporary culture. Importantly, the NGA will strive to compare Lithuanian art history, and socio-political experiences, within a regional and international context. These themes will be represented in the NGA's permanent collection exposition, temporary thematic exhibitions, scholarly publishing program, and academic and public conference programming.
The NGA project was initiated by the Lithuanian Art Museum, and ratified by the Lithuanian Parliament, in 2002. And the building project, the reconstruction and extension of an impressive former soviet museum of revolution lead by Lithuanian architects Audrius Bucas, Darius Caplinskas and Gintaras Kuginys, was commenced in 2005 and combines a soviet modernist structure with contemporary and technologically advanced design elements. The building houses 10,000 sq. metres of exhibition and public spaces, including 2,200 sq. metres for the permanent exposition, and the 1,100 sq. metre Grand Exhibition Hall for changing temporary thematic exhibitions, plus research, education, and library facilities (housing the Information Centre), retails and dining spaces, and a fully-equipped 150-seat screening and conference theatre. The NGA's exterior spaces include an enclosed sculpture courtyard, forecourts with impressive views of the Neris River and the city, and two external LED screens to be used for public information and special video-art programming.
The NGA opens with two dynamic exhibitions. The simply titled but evocative 20th Century Lithuanian Art that offers a chance to see an extensive exposition of artworks collected by the Lithuanian Art Museum over the course of the last 100 years - and to identify important movements and trends within their national art tradition. Dialogues of Colour and Sound. Works by Mikalojus Konstantinis Ciurlionis and his Contemporaries is dedicated to positioning the work of Lithuania's "missing" early-modernist painter and composer, MK Ciurlionis (1875-1911), within the canon of early-20th century experimental modernism and comparing his work with other European artists fascinated by the relation of visual art and music. The exhibition which is presented in collaboration between the NGA and the MK Ciurlionas National Art Museum (Kaunas) includes works by a number of luminary artists, including: Edvard Munch, Wassily Kandinsky, Frantisek Kupka, Arnold Scoenberg, and Stanislaw Wyspianski - borrowed from collections of leading museums throughout Europe.
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. The Day. From the cycle „Day".
1904/5. Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis National Art Museum. Photographer Arūnas Baltėnas
According to the NGA project leader, who is Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Art, Dr. Lolita Jablonskiene "the opening of the National Gallery of Art as the first Lithuanian institution fully-equipped with proper and specific museum facilities and conditions delivers an exponential boon for the Lithuanian people - as for the first time artworks associated with the modern masters, such as Kupka, Scoenberg and Munch, can be shown here in Vilnius. Moreover, Lithuanian audiences, and art specialists, have the opportunity to compare the art of their nation hung alongside art produced internationally. This opens great potential for the re-examination of Lithuanian art history from a new perspective and a reconsideration of its teaching. Societies bloom-and-grow when new opportunities for national self-reflection are established. And these benefits have impacts for generations and can be a source of pride for everyone involved in the establishment of the museum, or indeed, all of the audiences who visit the gallery and experience the exhibitions."
Edvard Munch. Violin Concert. 1903. Moderna Museet
The National Gallery of Art will be open to the public from Sunday 21 June at 10.00 am and is a strategic project of the "Program for the Millennium of Lithuania" and is a partner in the national programme of "Vilnius - European Capital of Culture 2009".
20th century Lithuanian Art
is curated by Dr. Lolita Jablonskiene and Dr. Jolita Muleviciute in collaboration with the curatorial team of the Lithuanina Art Museum
Dialogues of Colour and Sound. Works by Mikalojus Konstantinis Ciurlionis and his Contemporaries
is curated by Dr. Rasa Andriusyte-Zukiene, Osvaldas Daugelis, Dr. Vojtech Lahoda, and Sarunas Nakas
A conference titled "Between Silence and Sound: the migration of artistic ideas in the work of Ciurlionis and his contemporaries" is to be held on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition on Monday 22 June, 2009
The exhibition will be accompanied by a full colour scholarly catalogue
For media information about the the National Gallery of Art
Browse: www.ndg.lt, www.ldm.lt
Contact: Lina Paukstiene, Head of the Lithuanian Art Museum Public Relations' Department
Email: lina.paukstiene(at)ldm.lt
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