Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis

In 1875,september 22 born
And
In 1911, april 10 died

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis was a Lithuanian painter and composer and

perhaps the most famous Lithuanian artist of all time. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and art
nouveau. During his short life he composed about 250 pieces of music and created about 300
paintings. The majority of his paintings are housed in the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art,
in Kaunas. His works have had a profound influence on modern Lithuanian culture.
Three years out of primary school, he went to study at the musical school of Prince
Michal Origiski where he learned to play several orchestral instruments, in particular the flute, from
1889 to 1893. Čiurlionis studied piano and composition at the Warsaw Conservatory from 1894 to
1899.
He was one of the initiators of, and a participant in, the First Exhibition of Lithuanian
Art that took place in 1907 in Vileišis Palace, Vilnius.
Čiurlionis felt that he was a synesthete; that is, he perceived colors and music
simultaneously. Many of his paintings bear the names of musical pieces: sonatas, fugues and
preludes. He died 35 years old, very young man.

Short about painting

What singled out M.K.Ciurlionis from the others Lithuanian artists at the very outset
of his creative path was his romantic and symbolic painting ‘‘Stillness“, ‘‘The Creation of the
World“ ‚‘‘The Truth“ . Between 1906 and 1909 his main interest lay in folk art – fairy tales and
legends. He was also carried away by cosmos problems. The works of his period are the artist’s
acquaintance with world art masterpieces, immediate contact with the Lithuanian national
movement and folk art. There seemed to be too little room, within the frames of an ordinary picture,
for his thoughts and ideas on nature and cosmos, so the artist developed them through a series of
canvases. The work resulted in different cycles, diptychs, triptychs, paintings with musical names –
sonatas. In them M. K. Ciurlionis revealed himself as a romanticist. All his paintings were noted for
profound philosophic thought, full of apotheosis of nature. The artist created a new world of beauty
and marvelous harmony, a land of goodness and happiness – the dream of many world geniuses. M.
K. Ciurlionis’ creation expressed the aspirations of all mankind.

The most famous Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis paintings include:

• Cycle Winter (1906-1907)

• Cycle The Zodiac (1907)
• Sonatas (1907-1908)
• Cycle Fairy-Tale (1909)

The Zodiac cycle. Sagittarius (1907)

Sonata of the Sea. Finale (1908)
Creation of the World X (1906-1907)
 Short about music
Ciurlionis was a composer with an exceptional talent and good profesional training.
The most outstanding of these is the three-part cycle The Sea; others consist of short preludes,
fugues, canons, etudes, and variations. Their themes are short, condensed, of clear and finished
form, melodious and emotional.
There is more individuality in the symphonic poem In the Forest (1901). This is the
first of his poems and the first of its kind in Lithuanian music, was written on the free form of the
sonata for a symphony orchestra. Its melody is lyrical, and serene; the harmony and rhythm are not
complicated; the instrumentation is colourful. The composer re-creates the idyllic landscape of his
wooded native land by means of his poem.
Folk songs used for piano music and harmonised for chorus constitutes a separate
group. In harmonising folk songs he used his own stylistic devices in moderation, and maintained
the form, simplicity and mood of the folk songs.
In conclusion, Ciurlionis‘ talent is very unique. It has the quality of national
Lithuanian world understanding, folk art and at the same time his art is universal, cosmic, in some
sense global. This artist was a kind of pioneer who overcame the main trends of art of his time,.
Being very universal he can be intepreted in many ways. This is also a reason why he had and still
has a great influence not only an modern Lithuanian artists and musicians, but also on many other
art and even everyday life spheres: theatre, philosophy, design.