Sculpture in Conversation: A Dialogue Between Classical and Contemporary Works in Tartle’s New Exhibition

A new exhibition, titled In the Shadow of Knowledge. Sculpture Pre-Context has been opened at the Lithuanian Art Centre Tartle, offering a fresh perspective on sculpture, not only as a genre, but also on its intrinsic qualities. Featuring works by Lithuanian artists from the late 19th century to the present day, the exhibition spans traditional, small-scale forms to conceptual pieces that verge on installation. 

Rather than adhering to a strict stylistic or chronological arrangement, the exhibition encourages visitors to encounter sculpture through its material presence and spatial relationships – the very qualities that distinguish this art form. It also invites us to experience sculpture as a dream, accessed through the subconscious and emotion.

“We also hold what resides in the shadow of knowledge,” says Vladas Urbanavičius, one of Lithuania’s most renowned sculptors. This statement encapsulates the exhibition’s central idea: sculpture is presented through what we can sense, feel, and intuit. The “shadow of knowledge” becomes a space of first encounter when we stand before a work without knowing its context or history.

In the Shadow of Knowledge invites viewers to approach sculpture intuitively, discovering what might otherwise remain unseen. The exhibition features over 70 works, showcasing key figures from different periods of Lithuanian sculpture history, all drawn from the Tartle collection. Artists include Mark Antokolsky, Jacques Lipchitz, Petras Rimša, Juozas Mikėnas, Antanas Mončys, Stanislovas Kuzma, Ksenija Jaroševaitė, Vladas Urbanavičius, Mindaugas Navakas, and others. Alongside them, works by contemporary artists, such as Nerijus Erminas, Andrius Erminas, Marija Šnipaitė, Tauras Kensminas, and Mykolas Sauka, are presented.

Tartle’s founder, collector Rolandas Valiūnas, encourages visitors to discover their connections and stories within the exhibition. “One of the works closest to me is Head of Mephistopheles by Mark Antokolsky, a 19th-century sculptor of international renown who was born in Vilnius. It has a special place in my study,” he shares. “Another favourite is Summer, a marble bust of a woman that once stood in the park of Užutrakis Manor, the former estate of the Tyszkiewicz counts, from 1900. Today, it is part of the Tartle collection and can be seen in this exhibition.”

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Sculpture is tangible and real. We want to touch it, to run our hands along its surface. Standing beside it, we become more aware of our scale – our size, or our smallness. Jurgita Semenauskienė, director of Tartle, believes that sculpture never leaves us indifferent. “Every public sculpture becomes a topic of discussion,” she says. “That’s because sculpture – especially in the form of a monument – holds concentrated layers of historical and human memory. Yet these powerful works often begin as small-scale models, which are compelling sculptures in their own right. They reveal the sculptor’s evolving ideas and creative searches.”

The exhibition showcases several models of iconic Lithuanian sculptures. Among them is a model of Vladas Urbanavičius’s renowned Embankment Arch, installed at the Neris River – this version includes its hidden, underground structure. Visitors will also see a model of The Angel of Užupis with slightly different wings, as well as a plaster study of Eglė by Robertas Antinis, a preliminary vision of what would become the sculpture Eglė, Queen of Serpents, in Palanga.

Yet sculpture is not only about monuments. It can be personal, even intimate – living in our homes, becoming part of our daily rituals. These more minor works often feel like three-dimensional short stories or poems cast in bronze, quietly embedded in human life. Consider the busts of Darius and Girėnas by Bronius Pundzius, once a common sight in the homes of interwar Lithuanian intellectuals, mirroring a growing sense of national identity. Or the early works by the foremost Lithuanian sculptors, Mindaugas Navakas and Vladas Urbanavičius, where abstract form conveys no narrative yet deeply moves through its sheer material presence.

Material Is the Mother of Sculpture

“Painting awakens the imagination, while sculpture enhances our sense of reality,” says the exhibition’s curator, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jurgita Ludavičienė. It is through material – what she calls “the mother of sculpture” – that sculpture begins to take shape. That is why materiality forms the second key focus of the exhibition. Visitors are invited to explore sculptures crafted from stone, a medium long regarded as both the sculptor’s most common and most formidable. Among the highlights are Summer, a marble sculpture from Užutrakis Manor dating to the early 20th century, bearing visible marks of time and damage, and Teeth, a granite work by Mindaugas Navakas captured in a photograph.

Wood, another fundamental material, also plays a central role, particularly in contemporary Lithuanian sculpture. The exhibition reveals its full expressive range – from the exotic quebracho of Argentina used by Matas Menčinskas and the African mahogany favoured by Romualdas Kvintas, to the familiar textures of local Lithuanian wood in the iconic works of Leonas Strioga. The sensual smoothness of a female form in Aloyzas Smilingis’s work stands in dialogue with the raw, jagged surfaces of Mykolas Sauka. The exhibition also sheds light on plaster – a material that, until the 20th century, served primarily as a support, but has since evolved into a standalone artistic medium. Visitors will encounter God Perkūnas, a cubist plaster sculpture by the pioneer of modern Lithuanian sculpture Juozas Mikėnas from his Parisian period, alongside the contemporary Socrates by Arūnas Gudaitis. 

Classical Sculpture Meets Contemporary Works

A central thread running through the exhibition is the dialogue between classical and modernist sculpture and their contemporary counterparts. The works from the Tartle collection present key figures in the history of Lithuanian sculpture – from Mark Antokolsky and Jacques Lipchitz to Antanas Mončys, Juozas Mikėnas, Vytautas Kašuba, Vladas Urbanavičius, and Mindaugas Navakas. Together, their works provide a broad panorama of Lithuanian sculpture from the late 19th to the early 21st century, with a strong emphasis on the development of modernist sculpture.

“Yet each section of the exhibition finds its echo in the present. Classical pieces are placed in conversation with contemporary works drawn from private collections: film footage appears next to wooden sculpture, photography is paired with a classical plaster study, and a modernist marble bust shares space with a conceptual installation. Sculpture thus becomes an unexpected and inspiring dialogue between past and present. Come and experience how this encounter surprises and inspires,” says collector Rolandas Valiūnas.

The exhibition opens to the public on June 10 and will run until May of next year.

The Lithuanian Art Centre Tartle, located at Užupio str. 40, Vilnius, Lithuania, holds one of the largest private art collections in Central Europe, the result of over two decades of dedicated collecting. With nearly 8,000 items related to Lithuania, the collection encompasses painting, sculpture, historical and artistic graphics, early maps of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, books and prints published before 1905, goldsmithing, photography, and various historical artefacts. Since the museum’s opening in 2018, Tartle’s exhibitions have introduced visitors to Lithuania’s social, political, and artistic heritage through works of art and visual documents, welcoming over 25,000 guests to date.