Antakalnis and the Church of St Peter and St Paul
Antakalnis and the Church of St Peter and St Paul

Antakalnis and the Church of St Peter and St Paul

Author: Mackevičius Vytautas, 1911 - 1991

Created: 1965.

Material / technique: oil on canvas.

Dimensions: 95x72 cm.

Signature: V M (in the bottom-right corner of the painting); V. Mackevičius / „Antakalnis“ Šv. Petro Povilo bažnyčia / 1965 (in the back side of the painting).

Vytautas Mackevičius (1911–1991), a painter and longstanding rector of the LSS R State Institute of Art, settled in Vilnius after the Second World War and lived in Antakalnis. His house on Pavasario Street was on a hill, from which a good view of the city and the Church of St Peter and St Paul opened out. This subject caught his eye, and he painted it many times from the window of his studio. The picture includes wooden houses lurking among the pine trees and autumnal gardens in Antakalnis, the majestic towers of the Baroque church, and the green and still undeveloped quarter of Žirmūnai on the horizon. It is unfinished, but it conveys the spaciousness of the city quite well, and reveals the strengths of Mackevičius’ painting: a lively and decorative compositional whole, broad and free brushstrokes, and strong colouring.

Reference: Art album "Vilnius. Topophilia" (Volume I). Compiled by L. Laučkaitė. Vilnius, LAWIN, 2014, I Vol. P. 246.

Exhibitions: “VILNIUS. Topophilia”, 5 October – 26 November, 2017, the National Gallery of Art, Vilnius.

Published:  Art album "Vilnius. Topophilia" (Volume I). Compiled by L. Laučkaitė. Vilnius, LAWIN, 2014, I Vol. P. 246.