Gediminas Hill Reimagined in Art
Aloyzas Stasiulevičius recrates Vilnius architecture into geometric forms
View of Vilnius from Gediminas Hill (2011) by Aloyzas StasiulevičiusLithuanian Art Centre TARTLE
Aloyzas Stasiulevičius (b. 1931), who was a teacher at the M. K. Čiurlionis School for a long time, was fascinated by old Vilnius, and almost all his work is based on it.
His early townscapes were inspired by the variety of architectural styles, and he reproduced their changing appearance sensitively in the changing light.
But in the 1960s, he decided to abandon incidental minor matters, and to study the substance of the Old Town in depth, and reduce the endless architectural manifestations to pure geometry. The city interested him more like a construct, a rhythmic arrangement.
View of Vilnius from Gediminas Hill shows the vista from Gediminas Hill towards the Old Town, which was also often chosen by other artists.
It is easily recognisable: the broken line of Pilies and Didžioji streets leads to the Town Hall, with the vertical towers of the Church of the Holy Mother of God, and the Uniate, St Casimir’s and Sts Johns’ churches on the horizon.
The shapes of the buildings are broken down and simplified, while the musical rhythms of the shapes and the silvery monochromatic colouring are the most important aspects of the picture.
There are no residents in this city, no seasons, no time, and no moments that will pass into history: the city has become an icon, an empty metaphor.
Text by: Laima Laučkaitė
Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE
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