Exhibition of works of fine and applied art of the 16th century–20th century "Senses and Feelings", 2024 December 5 - 2025 May 4
Exhibition of works of fine and applied art of the 16th century–20th century "Senses and Feelings", 2024 December 5 - 2025 May 4
The exhibition "Senses and Feelings" opens at the LNDM Vilnius Picture Gallery. The exhibition dedicated to the expression of sensations and emotions exhibits works of fine or applied art from the sixteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as the literature of modern philosophers and scientists that inspired thinkers and artists, seeking to explore, know, and classify the passions of the soul and the senses of the body. The exhibition will be open until May 4, 2025.
"One of the most important tasks set by the team of the LNDM Vilnius Picture Gallery is to bring old art closer to modern man, to show that the difference between the topics that excited artists at the time and today's topicalities is not so great, and often does not exist at all. So, when we talk more and more loudly about mental health, the "legalization" and "functions" of emotions, it seems that in our everyday life, which is clinging to the framework of rationality, we turn to the old canvases, from which a bitten Italian smiles at us, lovers secretly kiss or a girl who turns her hands in despair weeps. Not only the theme itself, but also the author's ability to convincingly convey the feeling of the characters, to capture an expression that lasts just a moment, a sigh, is what makes the passerby stop. Creating this much-desired effect was certainly not easy, so in the exhibition visitors will find not only "emotional" canvases, but also stories about the tools that artists took to create them. After all, the creators will also betray the "secret" that we all sense – a person is not and never has been such a rational being as it happens," says Dr. Aistė Bimbirytė, director of the LNDM Vilnius Picture Gallery.
A difficult task for artists
According to the curators of the exhibition "Senses and Feelings" Gabija Kasparavičiutė-Kaminskienė and Joana Vitkutė, human emotions and the five senses that strengthen them – sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch – have long attracted the attention of thinkers and creators who carefully observed the world. Still, it wasn't easy to portray the rich, complex, and confusing palette of human feelings:
"With the help of perspective, shadow and color management skills, it was possible to create suggestive material forms, but in order to reveal the feelings and psychological state of the characters, much more effort and sensitivity was required. The situation was also complicated by the fact that for a long time the free expression of feelings in works of art was not desirable. For example, in the representative portraits of nobles, which brought great profit to the artists, emotional expressions were considered inappropriate, insulting dignity and disturbing the monumentality of the image. On the other hand, feelings could flow freely in mythological and religious scenes or in portraits of representatives of lower classes who paid less attention to established moral and social norms. Over time, with the modernization of the way of life, the increased interest in human psychology, and the development of the science of psychoanalysis, the number of open emotions in the works of artists increased, and the creators began to be praised for their ability to convincingly convey the mood," the curators of the exhibition say.
Aristotle's influence
The organizers of the exhibition note that modern scientists studying sensory science already count many more types of senses – from 22 to 33, but around 350 BC. In the treatise "On the Soul" by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (Gr. Περὶ Ψυχῆς, Latin. The five senses described in De Anima – sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch – remain essential ways of knowing the environment, firmly rooted in our self-awareness, and have become a source of inspiration for artists in various fields for centuries.
"The first five fragments of works depicting the senses appeared as early as the early Middle Ages. In them, the senses are usually associated with human sins. In the sixteenth century, the representation of the senses became an independent theme – compositions of allegorical figures with corresponding attributes and symbols were created. Very often these were graphic cycles. Since the seventeenth century, the senses and their symbolic meanings have increasingly begun to be "hidden" not only under the veil of allegory, but also in completely mundane, realistic, humorous scenes of people's lives, taking the viewer to bustling taverns, streets, a fragrant market and luxurious palaces. The theme of the five senses remained popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries," says the curator of the exhibition Joana Vitkutė.
The curators of the exhibition, revealing the development of the expression of emotions in art, also pay attention to today's context: based on the insights of psychologists, they emphasize the importance of accepting all their feelings and, if necessary, not hesitating to seek help and constantly take care of their emotional health. Art can also help to recognize one's feelings and the needs of the soul in the daily urgency dictated by the present world. A study conducted by LNDM and Mindletic revealed that visiting museums improves people's emotional well-being, inspires and encourages creativity.