Exhibition "Collected and collected", 17 May – 29 October 2023

Exhibition "Collected and collected". Kazys Varnelis' works from private collections, 17 May – 29 October 2023. Exhibition at the Kazys Varnelis House-Museum of the National Museum of Lithuania, Didžioji St. 26, Vilnius.

Kazys Varnelis ̶ probably the most famous creator of optical art in Lithuania ̶ was not only an artist, but also a passionate collector. The exhibition, arranged by the author's hand in the house-museum, emphatically juxtaposes the fruits of creativity and collecting, thus creating a broader narrative about their cultural resilience and movement from hand to hand. K. Varnelis not only collected, but also was and is being collected. Part of his work circulates outside the museum and is invisible to the public or accessible to the public in a very fragmentary way.

Justinas Dūdėnas

How many and what works of Kazys Varnelis can be found in private collections in Lithuania? Does the collector who intended to sell the composition painted by the artist still have it? Perhaps it is possible to find the artist's early experiments in the homes of Kaunas residents? Did "Mazgas" sold at the US auction end up in Lithuania?

For several years, such and similar questions have been constantly raised and have shaped the picture of the upcoming exhibition. After realizing such an important temporality for the collection of private collections, it became clear that this aspect would become the starting point for the creation of the scenography of the exhibition of his paintings stored in private collections in the K. Varnelis House-Museum.

The early paintings of Varnelis in this exhibition testify to the gradual transition from classical compositions to historical themes, as well as clearly show the artist's work by Stasys Ušinskas, who taught him at the Kaunas Art School, and even the new objectivity (German. Neue Sachlichkeit). The large-format classical optical compositions stored in private collections here create a contrasting dialogue with small and completely different works painted in a completely different manner, reminiscent of the scenography of the permanent museum exhibition set up by the artist himself, as well as paintings from the nineties. Most of the works are presented in the exhibition hall, some of them are interspersed with other spaces of the house-museum. As temporary guests of the museum, they are clearly visible: special constructions devised for the exhibition allow them to be respectfully placed in the halls and distinguished from other works.

The exposition is complemented by objects revealing the phenomenon of collecting, known and yet unexplored migration routes of works: sometimes confusing and enigmatic, sometimes straightforward and clear, and sometimes determined by anecdotal events.

Who knows, maybe during the exhibition, there will be works by Kazys Varnelis that have not yet been seen or considered missing, silently lying in someone's house like works of an unknown artist.