On Lake Antanašė (The Cows)

An expanse of water stretches towards the horizon, between sandy and grassy lakeside hills. A herd of cows stands in the shallows of the lake, observed by a goat that has clambered on to a boulder on the edge of the field. All of this is rendered in subdued tones of yellow, brown and grey, in small, short brush strokes falling next to each other like beads of rain. Anyone from a picturesque mountain region or the Mediterranean coast would probably wonder how scenery like this, when it is recorded, or a work of art, can be pleasing to the eye and a source of aesthetic appreciation. Yet this landscape by Justinas Vienožinskis (1886–1960) means much to Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians, who have grown up near similar lakes, and to the inhabitants of other lake-filled countries of Central and Eastern Europe. To us, it appears like a classic example of national art, a painting that encapsulates an important component of the Lithuanian identity in a precise and compelling way. It was painted during exceptionally difficult times, in the summer of 1941, when Soviet rule in Lithuania was replaced by the Nazi occupation. When the Second World War broke out, Vienožinskis was in his native village of Dačiūnai, at his easel with a brush in his hand. Turbulent events had also banished him to the Dačiūnai and Obeliai districts in the late 1920s. The landscapes "The Sandy Lakeside of Lake Salu" and "A Rainy Day", which are some of his best works, are also from this period.