Mikalojus Ciurlionis : The great Lithuanian painter and musician.

For many years the work of Mikalojus Ciurlionis was unknown outside his own country. He lived far from the centres of world culture and at the time Lithuania and Poland were on the outskirts of the Russian empire. Later, because of the long years of Soviet occupation, his work was not known abroad.
He completed most of his work between the years 1903 and 1909. His art work is abstract, surrealist, minimalist and conceptual. Many of his paintings were designed to be viewed at the same time as listening to pieces of his musical compositions.

Ciurlionis was born in 1875 in Varena, a small town in the South of Lithuania. His father was a church organist. He was born into a peasant family. From an early age, Ciurlionis developed an interest in music and between 1894 and 1899 he studied at the Warsaw Conservatory. After graduating, he lived in Warsaw giving private lessons to support himself. In 1902 he graduated from the conservatory with the diploma as Teacher of Music. He continued to live in Warsaw and began attending drawing studios.

In autumn 1903, Michael began his work on the cycle of seven paintings, “Funeral Symphony”. He also began to paint picture postcards. Over the following two years his painting output increased; by 1905, he was painting up to four or five landscapes a day. In 1907, he moved back to Lithuania to live in the capital, Vilnius. Meanwhile, many of his friends back in Warsaw had been arrested on charges of belonging to the Polish Socialist Party.

Between 1906 and 1909, Michael worked steadily on music, paintings and writing. During the year of 1909 there was intense creative work. But like many painters there was a permanent shortage of money. Worries about his family undermined his health. He was diagnosed with severe exhaustion. In 1910 his daughter, Danute, was born, but a year later, in 1911, Ciurlionis died. He was only 36 years of age.
He was buried in a cemetery in Vilnius.

Web Links

Ciurlionis paintings
Vilnius
Lithuanian State Department Tourist Information
Panevezys school link / photos

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