Vilma Kilinskienė. Kazimierz Stabrowski, the Teacher of M. K. Čiurlionis

Artist: Vilma Kilinskienė

Publisher: M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas, 2016

ISBN: 978-9955-471-58-5

Dimensions: 25,7x30,6 cm 

Pages: 128

Kazimierz Stabrowski (1869–1929) was a visual artist of Lithuanian descent, a symbolist and Secessionist, the founder of the Warsaw School of Visual Arts and the Sursum corda Fellowship of Visual Artists-Mystics, the teacher and friend of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, and one of the first organizers, supporters, and participants of Lithuanian visual art exhibits. When compiling the catalog 'Kazimierz Stabrowski, the Teacher of M. K. Čiurlionis', our aim was to emphasize Stabrowski’s contribution to the popularity of Lithuanian visual arts and its presence in the first Lithuanian visual art exhibits, as well as links to Čiurlionis’ works and his artistic originality. We seek to reveal the style, creative value, and incomprehensibly deep and complex world of the visual artist through his very valuable works of art.

The idea to compose this publication was inspired by the comprehensive and large collections of Dr. Jaunius Gumbis and Rolandas Valiūnas, who explain all of the curves in the artistic journey of Stabrowski. Based on these collections, on September 24, 2015, the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art unveiled the exhibit of Stabrowski’s paintings right next to the permanent exhibit of his student, Čiurlionis. The exhibit showcases paintings that have inspired much of Čiurlionis’ artwork and vice versa – the artistic visions of Čiurlionis were often the creative impulse of his teacher. 

As soon as the works of the two artists were placed next to each other, it was as if a musical harmony was established among them, revealing their exceptional consonance, artistic intertwinement, and the threads that link them together. The two voices are strong as it is, but as a duet, it only emphasized the harmony, making it more mesmerizing, more spiritual, and more profound. This is the story of how the works of Stabrowski and Čiurlionis were brought together and have thus disclosed the depths of each other’s creativity. The harmony reveals the primordial mysteries and the essence that is encoded in them.