Virtual
Exhibition Antanas Rimavicius:The Path of Christ's Torture
(iliustrations
from the Catalogue Antanas Rimavicius. Skulptura.
Kanciu kelias. Siauliai,
Saules Delta, 1997)
I
part
II part
Antanas
Rimavicius is the only outstanding Lithuanian artist to be both a sculptor and
a priest. He was born in 1865 in Sakyna and received his education in the
Boys' Gymnasium of Siauliai. In 1884 he entered the Theological Seminary in
St.Petersburg and graduated from it in 1890. He was appointed to serve
as a priest in Latvia. A.Rimavicius worked in various small towns, the longest
time being in Balva
where he stayed for 18 years. A. Rimavicius died in 1933 in Rubenai.Throughout
his life father A. Rimavicius created sculpture. He prefered carving in wood,
but many pieces of his art are done in cement and plaster. His works total
over 500. Among A.Rimavicius' works one can see rounded and relief sculpture,
altar sculptures and decorative works. There are also cycles of works, some
compositions are often repeated such as The Path of Christ's Torture, The
Last Supper, Pieta and others. Baroque sculpture and decorative
elements of the Latgale church-greatly influenced A. Rimavicius' creative
work. Nevertheless he was rather independent in creating his compositions,
paying the greatest attention to the monumentality of sculpture and general
interpretation of the theme. A. Rimavicius was a self-made carver with no
formal art education. His creative work is a distinct and original branch of
the Lithuanian and Latvian folk culture of the end of XIX century and the
beginning of XX century. A. Rimavicius participated in art exhibitions held in
Latvia and Lithuania. lie received various awards for his works.
Not long before his death A. Rimavicius visited Siauliai, the city of his
childhood. The Ausra museum of Siauliai and the people working there
made a great impression on him, so much so, in his will A. Rimavicius left a
large part of his works and his valuable collection of art to the Ausra museum.
178 pieces of art have been brought to Siauliai while the rest of his works
remained in Latvian museums,
churches and private collections.
The first personal exhibition of A. Rimavicius' art in Siauliai was organized
in October of 1933.
During World War II, when the Germans occupied the Ausra museum in
Siauliai, the works of A. Rimavicius were hidden in the store-rooms of the
brewery Gubernija. Sadly 45 pieces of sculpture perished during a fire
in the store-rooms in 1944.
The creative heritage of A. Rimavicius, a sculptor and priest, is a
vivid reflection of cultural links between Lithuania and Latvia.
Arunas
Vasiliauskas
