Undeservedly forgotten artist Boleslovas Ruseckas: born in Rome, fell in love with Vilnius, and lived in art | Culture

“The opening exhibition of the work of Boleslov Ruseckos not only introduces the Lithuanian art heritage and opens up opportunities to enjoy the precise strokes of the artist, but also encourages the discovery of the creator’s personality, formed in the constant tension between the desire to create according to academic rules and the relentless desire to create more freely. I am glad that the curators have prepared an exceptional celebration for the eyes of professionals and art lovers,” says LNDM General Director Dr. Arūnas Gelūnas.

“This exhibition is one of the steps in the long-term activity strategy of the Vilnius Picture Gallery. With exhibitions dedicated to one artist, we aim to present the golden fund of Lithuanian art, to offer a new look at our creators, to make them easier to recognize, original and relevant for today’s audience.

Boleslovas Ruseckas is one such author, and the need to appreciate him anew is shown by the abundant not only artistic, but also written heritage preserved in museums and archives, which has been almost unexplored until now. Perhaps the visitor will be somewhat surprised by the abundance of documents and sketches, but this is how we want to show that the case of B.Ruseckos provides an extremely rare opportunity to get to know the artist’s life, which took place outside the studio, and at the same time to understand the context in which his works appeared”, says the director of the LNDM Vilnius Picture Gallery Dr. Aistė Bimbirytė.

National Art Museum of Lithuania/Boleslov Mykolas Ruseckas (1824-1913). Self portrait. in 1852 Canvas, oil

Talented, versatile and undeservedly forgotten

Until now, B.Ruseckas was known only as one of the most prominent artists of the 19th century to many lovers of old Lithuanian art. the son of painters Kanuty Rusecki (Kanuty Rusiecki, 1800–1860), who painted the famous “The Reaper”.

The work of the artist, collector, publicist B. Ruseckos has been presented in Lithuania so far only in fragments: in 1993, 2001 and 2014. small exhibitions were organized, which introduced the visitors to the artist’s work – an album of drawings, one work of religious art and an image of Italy.

Organizing the first retrospective of B. Ruseck’s life and work was inspired by 2024. commemorating the 200th anniversary of the artist’s birth. It became an opportunity for the curators of the exhibition to research the artistic and written legacy of B.Ruseckas preserved in Lithuanian and foreign memory institutions and private collections and to present it to the public.

National Art Museum of Lithuania/Boleslovas Ruseckas. Portrait study of the wife for the painting “The Offering Christ”. 19th century the middle is the second half. Canvas, oil

The exhibition of life and work spread over eight exhibition halls introduces the visitor to the personality of the artist, the beginning of his creative path, the period spent studying in Petersburg, Italy, the search for artistic solutions and the results, the public, life and creative space.

The whole of B.Rusecki’s artistic work, assembled from different pieces, reveals a complex creative process from the birth of the idea to the result and the close relationship with the depicted object that develops during it.

The artist combined academic and realistic stylistics. He created religious and allegorical compositions, painted portraits, sketched everyday life around him. His creative legacy is fragmentary, but this is precisely what gives us the opportunity to get to know the artist’s creative cuisine, to look at the beginnings of lost or as yet unidentified great compositions.

Talented, multifaceted and undeservedly forgotten – this is how the LNDM Vilnius Picture Gallery presents B. Ruseckas.

National Art Museum of Lithuania/Boleslovas Ruseckas. St. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary. 1860. Oil on canvas

Living in the shadow of his father and aspiring to an academic career

B.Ruseckas saw inspiration, beauty, which, in his own words, “he would like to swallow with his eyes”, everywhere – in the face of his beloved, in the figures of Italian peasants, in the courtyards of Vilnius and in the foliage of the old forest. He lived in art. Even following closing the door of the studio, he delved into the history of art, especially admiring the old Italian masters, the work of the Nazarenes, and his contemporaries considered him the best expert of the Vilnius Art School, collecting their works and photo reproductions.

According to the curators of the exhibition, looking at the creative legacy of B.Rusecki, the lines of the letters, a tension emerges that was apparently impossible to avoid. The artist was educated from a young age by his father, one of the most famous artists of the 19th century. of Lithuanian painters K.Ruseckos, was difficult to guide himself from the shadow of authority.

The acquired education and nurtured personal concept of art allow B. Ruseckas to be considered a painter of the academic direction, but all his efforts to earn the title of academician were unsuccessful.

What’s more, creating multi-figure compositions common to academics was tiring, and he experienced great pleasure and enthusiasm as soon as he broke away from the strict rules, which he often pushed himself into, creating landscapes or small-format portraits, light, lively sketches.

National Art Museum of Lithuania/Boleslovas Ruseckas. Borghese soldier. 1846. Paper, charcoal pencil

The creative path of an artist

B.Ruseckas was born in Rome, spent his childhood here. When he was regarding seven years old, the family moved to Lithuania. Vilnius and father Kanutas left the biggest mark on Boleslov’s early work. This is evidenced by the surviving sketch albums, which are full of panoramic views of Vilnius or important city objects, landscapes, portraits of family members and unidentified persons, still lifes, and still life studies. The early drawings reveal that the young B.Ruseckas also learned by copying lithographs of foreign graphic artists and his father’s paintings.

1843-1850 B.Ruseckas studied at the Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts with the rights of a free listener. While studying, he created lithographs and painted portraits. in 1850 for portraits painted from nature, he was awarded the title of freelance artist. After graduating, he painted “Self-Portrait” – one of his best works. in 1853 following creating the allegorical painting “The merging of the Neris with the Nemunas” he was recognized as a candidate for academics.

After completing his studies, B.Ruseckas asked for permission to go abroad, but he managed to get it only in 1857. The artist traveled to Warsaw, Krakow, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Trieste, Ancona, and spent three years in Rome. During the trip, B.Ruseckas recorded the visited places, architectural and art monuments, Italian domestic scenes and colorful national costumes in sketch albums, and expressed his impressions in letters written to his father.

National Art Museum of Lithuania/Boleslovas Ruseckas. A woman with a fan. 1840. Paper, watercolor, tempera

In the city of his childhood, the artist experienced spiritual upliftment. He visited almost all city museums, galleries, churches, visited artists’ studios, copied paintings, drew and painted sketches from nature. In the evenings he went to the academy to draw a live model, and during the days he worked in his studio. Here he created the paintings “Death of Boleslov the Brave” and “St. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary”.

The artist was interested in history, the past of his country, collected archaeological remains, historical values, was an excellent copyist and connoisseur of old masters, especially Italians, passionate researcher of the Vilnius School of Art.

Vrublevskii Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences/Boleslov Ruseckas. Drawing from a sketchbook with drawings of views of Italy. Paper, pencil, watercolor

Over the years, he accumulated a collection that testified to these interests. It contains works considered original by Guido Reni, Sassoferrato, Caraccio, Rossio, Mario de Fiorio, as well as copies of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Veronese, Rubens, Titian, works by Vilnius creators Pranciškaus Smuglevičius, Simon Čechavičius, Vincent Dmachauskas and others. . A part of B.Ruseckos’ collection will also be available at the exhibition “(Non)academic. Boleslovas Ruceskas” visitors. It has one exhibition hall.

The exhibition will be open until October 20.

Vrublevskii Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences/Boleslov Ruseckas. Drawing from a sketchbook with drawings of views of Italy. Paper, watercolor

The exhibition opened at the LNDM Vilnius picture gallery will be complemented by an educational program: public lectures by art historians, excursions with exhibition curators and museum guides, educational activities for schoolchildren, adults, families and seniors.