Pranas Domšaitis (1880 - 1965)
Pranas Domšaitis (1880-1965)
His / Her Figure
The narrative of the exhibition "His / Her Figure", dedicated to
the oeuvre of painter Pranas Domšaitis (1880-1965), is the figure
of the artist as a nomad, migrant, and emigrant. The artist's
creative legacy meanders through East Prussia, Germany, Austria,
and finally, South Africa. He not only captured the landscapes of
geographical locations where he stayed for shorter or longer
periods, but also, as a nomad by nature, sketched the landscapes to
which his curiosity drew him. These were mainly countries beyond
the borders of the European continent: Tunisia, Somalia, the
Bosphorus Strait, Turkey, and so on.
During his travels, Domšaitis paid much attention to observing the
environment. Nature and the inhabitants of various places were the
artist's main source of inspiration and the subject of his
paintings. Thus, sketches from his travels, made in pencil or
pastel and later transferred to oil on canvas, show figures -
usually of women - posing en face for the artist / viewer or
performing everyday household chores. The portrait genre paintings,
framed by the "male gaze", easily identify the dominant canon of
female representation at the time - the imperative of exoticized
beauty, distinct ethnic features, and subtle psychologism.
The exhibition intertwines two genres of classical painting -
portraiture and landscape - to highlight the color nuances of
different geographical sceneries and the interactions between the
ethnic features of the portrayed, mainly women, as well as the
links between postcolonialism and
climate change. Issues of identity eventually arise in the attempt
to characterize the portrait of Domšaičius himself, a foreigner
without a homeland (German: Heimatlose Ausländer).
The artist's artistic legacy, presented in this exhibition, shows
that the (art) world, which has been migrating between languages
and cultures, identities and geographies, is constantly confronted
with a self-consciousness of "them" and "us", and encounters the
codes of a visual language that has deep-rooted (ideological)
traditions in Western culture.
Exhibition curator Aušra Trakšelytė
Coordinator Gabrielė Radzevičiūtė
Exhibition architect Mindaugas Reklaitis
Exhibition designer Laura Grigaliūnaitė
Translator Aleksandra Fominaitė
Partner Tumo galerija
Sponsor EXTERUS Fondermax
