Rima Rutkauskienė “On someone who loved ”

Juozapas Kamarauskas‘ work holds an exclusive The biography of Kamarauskas presented in He never fails to mention that he attended the Vilnius place in Lithuanian art history. He is the only artist this article consists of several accounts from his Drawing School, led by Ivan Trutnev . to have left so many vedute genre works formed in life, journal fragments, documents, reports, per Arriving in Vilnius to pursue his , the in the late th century, a majority of which sonal documents, letters and manuscripts kept at eighteenyearold discovered a growing city, alive are dedicated to Vilnius. Many th –early th century the Lithuanian Art , and with the ideas of a national revival which encou artists memorialised Vilnius, but Kamarauskas is Lithuanian Central State archives . A register of works raged him to take an interest in early Lithuania‘s the only one in Lithuanian art to have consistently the artist compiled himself has also provided a great cultural heritage. We know about his later studies furthered this genre. His engineering background deal of information. from a study report certicate issued by the Vilnius and great inclination to draw formed a unique creative Juozapas Kamarauskas was born on April , ‘s teachers on January – , , kept style – he used realistic means to depict both non (April according to the Julian calendar), as at the Lithuanian ‘s archive, and a gra existent architectural and complexes, and he later wrote, “at the Skauradai folwark in Troškūnai duation certicate after completing four levels at the those he still had the chance to witness. powiat, Ukmergė district, governorate”; his Prince N. A. Bezborodka Gymnasium of the Institute There are entries on Kamarauskas in Lithuanian parents were farmers Mykolas Kamarauskas and Ieva of History and Philology in Nizhyn dated April , encyclopedias , dictionaries , and in works on early Uršulė SadauskaitėKamarauskienė. He had seven . In his journal from these times, he wrote that th century Lithuanian art history . The eminent siblings of which ve survived, Boleslovas, Juozapas, he submitted an application to the Academy of Art Lithuanian culture promoter Jonas Basanavičius Felicija, Teolė and Anelė , the others dying in early in on September , . He left wrote about Kamarauskas in . The memories childhood. The future architect and artist‘s passion for in and attended the Central of Kamarauskas‘ contemporaries are equally for drawing is evident in a picture dated to in Baron A. School for Technical Drawing. Our valuable – Vilniaus aidas journalist (later – editor at the his register of works where he drew the Skauradai knowledge of his engineering studies comes from Lithuanian Art Museum) Rapolas Mackonis and senior folwark when he was ten years old. Kamarauskas‘ own accounts of his life. In one it is architect in post Vilnius Vladislovas Mikučianis . Kamarauskas attended the Raguva school, later written that in – he attended the Building Contemporary art researchers have also studied the he studied with Fr. Jonas Rusteikis in Troškū nai, and in and Art Studio where his teacher was engineer architect and artist‘s creative legacy . Vilnius with Adam Liaskowski and Andriuszkiewicz . M. M. Prozorov, another reveals that he completed

Mažoji lietuviškoji tarybinė enciklopedija, Vilnius: Mintis,, t. , p. –; Basanavičius J., „Apie vieną Vilniaus mylėtoją“, Vilniaus aidas , , dokumento ksavimo iki vizijų“, Lietuvos pilys , , nr. , p. –. Lietuviškoji tarybinė enciklopedija, Vilnius : Mokslas, , t. , p. ; balandžio , p. –. Lithuanian Art Museum archive, F. B, ap., b. –; Vilnius County archives, F. , Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija , Vilnius: Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija, Mackonis R., Senoji vilniečių karta. Portretų eskizai , Vilnius: Lietuvos ap. , b. ; Lithuanian Central State archives, F. , ap. , , t. , p. ; rašytojų sąjunga, , p. –. b. ir F. R, ap. , b. . Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija , Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos Mikučianis V., Norėjau dirbti Lietuvoje , Vilnius: Lietuvos dailės akademijos Lithuanian Art Museum archive, F. B, ap. , b. , l. . institutas, , t. , p. . leidykla, , , . Lithuanian Art Museum archive, F. B, ap. , b. , l. . Slownik artystów polskich i obcych w Polsce dzialających: Malarstwo. Rzrzbi Statulevičiūtė R., „Meniškoji dokumento prigimtis: Juozapo Kamarausko According to J. Širkaitė, Kamarauskas could have attended this school a r ze . Gracy, Wrocław, Warszawa, Kraków, Gdansk, Łodz: Wydawni ctwo kūryba“, Logos , , t. , p. –; after : Širkaitė J., „Vilniaus piešimo mokykla ir jos mokiniai“, Kultūros polskiej akademii nauk, , t. , p. –; Lietuvos dailininkų žodynas. StatulevičiūtėKaučikienė R., „Imaginaciniai architektūros atvaizdai istorijos tyrinėjimai , Vilnius: Kultūros ir meno instituto leidykla „Gervelė“, –, Vilnius: Lietuvos kultūros tyrimų institutas, ., t. , p. –. XIX a. II p.–XX a. I p. Lietuvos dailėje“, Meno istorija ir kritika , Kaunas: , p. –. XX a. Lietuvių dailės istorija. – , Vilnius: Vaga, t. , , p. Vytauto didžiojo universiteto leidykla, , nr. , p. –. Nizhyn is a city in northern , in District, km from Kiev. –. Povilaitytė E., „Vilniaus Aukštutinės pilies rūmų ikonograja: nuo Lithuanian Art Museum archive, F. B, ap. , b. , l. .

architectural studies at the “Petrapil Academy” . lived in Saint Petersburg, Kamarauskas wrote letters created, mention was made of two plans of Vilnius, Mikučianis‘ memoirs state that according to the archi to his sisters, oering material assistance and encou images of Vilnius, images and reconstructions of tect, he was educated in Saint Petersburg where he ragement to reopen the store. ‘ Hill, images of the Vilnius surrounds and graduated from the Civil Engineering Institute Faculty When he arrived in Vilnius, the artist lived on , reconstructions of Kaunas, images of the of and received an architect‘s diploma . Skapo , and from at St Casimir‘s Lane , Sapiežiškiai Church (not far from Kaunas), as well From he worked as a junior later, in he moved to a small near as images of Saint Petersburg, and Podole. assistant, a technician, later a construction site the St Nicholas Orthodox Church at Didžioji Mikalojus Vorobjovas, Mieczysław Limanowski, manager, architect and city architect. His life ac Street. Searching for work, he often appealed to Marian Morelowski, Adolfas Valeška, Euzebiusz counts show that in – he worked on the the Polish government, but he was rejected each Łopaciński and Žemkalnis listened to his Užnemunė railroad between Hrodno and , and time. Kamarauskas‘ attempts at being employed on presentation, giving a favourable assessment of in – he worked on the –Vindava and the Polish Railroad Board were fruitless, as was his the works they saw, and taking into account the Petersburg–Vitsyebsk railroads. Kamarauskas had the attempt at nding service with the Vilnius magis architect‘s merits, they decided to ask the People‘s opportunity to work with famous Italian engineer, trate. This lack of permanent employment forced him Commissariat for Education of the LSSR to allocate one of the builders of the Suez in Egypt, Gaetan to take on various occasional commissions – pre him a pension, or give him an appropriate post. Fontana. In – Kamarauskas participated in paring construction designs, restoring paintings in Žemkalnis also suggested releasing an album of rebuilding the Michailovskoi railway station, and in churches and provincial manors, creating money Kamarauskas‘ most valuable works and to hold – he was appointed senior construction en and stamp designs, copying religious paintings, dra an exhibition, which was eventually organised gineer of Saint Petersburg. Following service in the wing everyday genre pictures and postcards bearing in at the Vilnius City Executive Committee. military technical unit, in – he worked in the city heraldry, portraits of the dukes of the Grand As the war was ending in , Kamarauskas, as First Railroad Battalion, and in – he was en , ex librises and posters. the engineerconservator with the Communal gineerarchitect of the city and governorate of Saint When Lithuania reclaimed Vilnius in , Kama Department‘s Technical Section in the Vilnius City Petersburg, and extraordinary chief of construction. rauskas managed to secure a position in the city Executive Committee, was ordered to produce He was arrested on September , and impriso municipality‘s Department of Construction as an plans and drawings of the exteriors of historical ned until May , , when he was proven innocent engineer, architect and conservator. When the buildings. On September , he was appointed and released. He served in Saint Petersburg until the municipality was reorganised into an Executive inspector for architectural protection autumn of . As life became increasingly compli Committee in , he worked as an engineer with the Architectural Board of the LSSR . On April cated, and he grew tired of the terror following the architect in the urban sector of the Department of , , the Board of Science of the Vilnius State Art revolution, he decided to return to Vilnius. Construction and Architecture. When the Vilnius Institute allocated Kamarauskas with a pension in Kamarauskas‘ parents and sisters already lived Art Museum became the Vilnius State Art Museum, acknowledgement of the historic and artistic value of in Vilnius from the late th century. His sister Felicija Kamarauskas was involved in researching early the architect‘s work. had permission to open a bookstore in Vilnius from cultural monuments, preparing inventories of Vilnius‘ Unfortunately, Kamarauskas never lived long January , where she could sell prayer books, architectural monuments, and reports about the enough to receive his pension, Having lived pictures, crosses, rosaries and other cult parapherna research being conducted. On March , at through two world , changes in government, lia. She had received warnings on numerous occa the th Early Vilnius Research Papers Presentation imprisonment and the passing of loved ones, he sions that she could sell publications but not those Conference, Kamarauskas read a paper about the died on October , , aged . He is buried at the written in script, otherwise she would be pro inventorying and reconstruction of architectural Cemetery. secuted and her business would be closed down . monuments in Vilnius and Kaunas. Among the Visions of early Vilnius in Kamarauskas‘ It appears that the store was closed, as whilst he still architectural images and reconstructions he had compositions were not of much signicance to

Lithuanian Art Museum archive, F. B, ap. , b., l. . minded colleague of Kamarauskas, Zygmunt Mieczysław Czaykowsky reconstructions, waiting to be rediscovered. Czaykowsky created a great Mikučianis V., Norėjau dirbti Lietuvoje , Vilnius: Lietuvos dailės akademijos (–), who was born in and had graduated from a deal of historic reconstructions in , once World War II was already leidykla, , p. . specialised architecture school in , worked as the scientic underway. In September –October , , he and Kamarauskas Lithuanian Art Museum archive, F. B, ap. , b. , l. . secretary on the board of Vilnius architects at this time as well. Settling participated in an exhibition of Vilnius artists. He depicted his apartment at St Casimir’s Lane in a composition in Vilnius from , Czaykowsky fell in love with the city, its history Kamarauskas was imprisoned for using Lithuanian script; another term dated October , (cat. ). and architecture. He dedicated a larger part of his research to the of imprisonment was in in Petrograd, and during the period of At this time, when a majority of architects had ed Vilnius, Vladislovas underground history of Vilnius art. He was simply obssessed by the idea Polish rule in Vilnius, he was arrested for being suspected of spying. Mikučianis was appointed the senior architect for Vilnius city. A like that the real ancient, medieval Vilnius was hidden under more recent

Vilnius society at the time. His scientic architecture of the Republic of Lithuania. Watercolour and oil decorated with early pagan , inscriptions, coats erudition were not taken seriously either. In , painted works can be found in the National Museum of arms and cartouches, reminiscent of th – th to mark the city‘s th anniversary, Kamarauskas of Lithuania, the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum century illustrations. All of this is conveyed based on created a plan of Vilnius city that was noticed by the of Art, the Trakai History and the Jewish . the surviving remains of buildings, on iconography, Polish press, despite not being received favourably. His posters are found at the Vytautas the Great War on archival material – sometimes, his imagination. Jonas Basanavičius was the rst to speak openly Museum. The Lithuanian Art Museum‘s collections According to the author himself, “each plan contains about the importance of Kamarauskas‘ work in terms contain the largest assembly of his works – pieces around , buildings that can be categorised into of the cultural history of Lithuania, and especially on cardboard, canvas, paper, cotton watercolour, oil, new, old and historic. Around , kilometres had to Vilnius: “As a patrician of Vilnius, he earnestly ink and pencil compositions and sketches. Towns in be walked to form one plan. In this way, it took two collected all types of historical and archaeological Lithuania, Ukraine, and predominate years to create one plan” . Contemporaries recall that relics, such as descriptions of Vilnius, city plans, among the collection‘s painted works, featuring their he would draw an architectural object on location, drawings, and studied everything he could nd about architecture, landscapes. Among the illustrations, and upon returning it would be transferred to Lithuania‘s capital in private collections, libraries sketched gural compositions dominate (usually the plan to the appropriate scale. From the register and museums, as much here in Vilnius as in Saint townswomen, children, beggars), while much fewer we see that Kamarauskas had also created relief Petersburg, and other locations” . Kamarauskas sketches of architectural details have survived. In plansreconstructions of early Vilnius from dierent became a member of the Lithuanian Scientic around watercolours and drawings accidentally centuries, but the one that survived was Vilnius ( th – Society in . However, his work only received due discovered at a house in the found their th century) (cat. ). respect and interest after the war – the longserving way to the museum‘s restoration , thanks A large part of Kamarauskas‘ creative legacy is sta member of the Lithuanian Art Museum and to the art researcher and head of the Visual Art devoted to images of the Upper Castle. He liked to cultural historian (thanks to whose eorts a majority Department, Vladas Drėma. In , the Monument depict this castle from dierent aspects, sometimes of Kamarauskas‘ work found its way to the museum), Protection Inspectorate‘s Scientic Methodical Board focusing on separate objects (the castle, the western Vladas Drėma, called the artist the most ardent and archive transferred over works by Kamarauskas to with the superstructure loyal lover of monuments of our capital‘s past . the Lithuanian Art Museum. Around works were and the roof covering), sometimes the whole castle Basanavičius wrote that by Kamarauskas acquired from private individuals. complex amid the background of a panorama over had created around , sketches of Vilnius city More than half of the collection kept at the Vilnius. Kamarauskas had set himself the objective and Trakai Castle . Kamarauskas mentions in his museum is dedicated to Vilnius. The artist himself to record the same object each year or at least every Curriculum vitae (written in ) that there are has written that ever since , he devoted all his several years. Numerous images drawn on location around , “completed compositions and sketches”. spare time to his beloved Vilnius, immortalising it remain which serve as a record of the changes and The register of works entered in his journal, which in his drawings. Systematically, year to year, every reconstructions that had taken place. Much fewer is kept at the Lithuanian Art Museum‘s archive, month, every day, he would take note of and record reconstructions of the Lower Castle exist, indicating contains , works painted and drawn in –. all the changes taking place in the general Vilnius his obvious preference for the Upper Castle. The works themselves are spread around , urban landscape. Kamarauskas‘ Vilnius surprises A separate part of his work consists of panoramas some being left in Saint Petersburg, some having and captivates; while very familiar, it is depicted over Vilnius giving a bird‘seye view. These been conscated by the Polish government, others from a totally unexpected angle, lending itself to be panoramas, breathing space, created at dierent were “borrowed” by various individuals and never discovered anew. This impression is intensied by times of the year were mostly drawn on location, and returned, while some are in private collections. One the rich and comprehensive descriptions in several are noted for their light, poetic mood. Kamarauskas‘ of the most important works of Kamarauskas are languages, entered in calligraphic writing sometimes Vilnius is surrounded by covered hills, their the sketches and drawings of the ‘s on the front, but usually on the reverse of the image. valleys lled with churches, and castles. destroyed during World War II that were His register has a record of several plans of Vilnius, There are also watercolours that depict the oldest, made in – and are now kept in the archive but only ve have survived. Those created in no longer standing city structures – defensive walls of the Cultural Heritage Protection Department and are especially interesting, as here Vilnius is and gates that surrounded the city. They include depicted to photographic precision: a detailed streets images of the Gates of Dawn (), Trakai, Basanavičius J., op. cit . network, hundreds of carefully reconstructed houses Spas (Saviour), Subačius, Tatar and Vilnius (Vilija) Drėma V., Dingęs Vilnius : Vaga, , p. –. lining the streets rooftops topped with chimneys, gates, created in –. Studying iconographic Basanavičius J., op. cit . Lithuanian Art Museum archive, F. B, ap. , b. , l. . and the old street names. Some plans feature frames material, the artist depicted the walls including

the most critical defensive segments – , only appreciate his work in . It was then that on embrasures and machicolation. May , an exhibition was opened at the Central Halls Kamarauskas also drew the Vilnius seen by his of the Lithuanian Art Museum titled Early Vilnius contemporaries. In his watercolours, he memorialised in the Illustrations of J. Kamarauskas (–). various churches in Vilnius – the Missionaries, A publication was also released for this occasion. St Michael‘s, St Nicholas‘, Ss. Peter and , the An exhibition of restorers works held in also Franciscan, St Anne‘s and Bernardine monastery included some of Kamarauskas‘ drawings. His works churches, the church of the Immaculate Conception were displayed at the permanent exposition of of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Trinapolis church. early th century Lithuanian art at the Lithuanian Houses of prayer of other confessions reected the Art Museum (at the presentday Town Hall). His rst multicultured city: the Cathedral of the Theotokos, major retrospective show was organised in December the Old Believer and the Znamenskaya (Žvėrynas) –February , at the Lithuanian Art Museum‘s orthodox churches, the Evangelical Lutheran church, . Then, works were exhibited and the Tatar mosque and the Karaim . The subtle, a catalogue was released. Two decades later, on June at times joyous, at times nostalgic landscapes –September , an exhibition was held at surrounding Vilnius (, Trinapolis, Žvėrynas, the Lithuanian Art Museum‘s Vilnius Picture Gallery, Markučiai) take an important place in Kamarauskas‘ Visions of Old Vilnius. An Exhibition of Watercolours by work. Near the river are broad meadows, dotted Juozapas Kamarauskas , where aside from his works a with white houses, nearby cows are grazing, and rich collection of archival material was also presented. townspeople relaxing and bathing in the river. His And in the beginning of November, , a studio compositions also record cosy corners of the city – exposition dedicated to Kamarauskas was opened at courtyards featuring a distinctive architectural detail, the Vilnius Picture Gallery. a willow completely lling the courtyard space. A more modest but no less valuable part of Kamarauskas‘ creative legacy is his collection dedicated to other Lithuanian cities. It includes plans of larger cities – Kaunas, Trakai, Šiauliai and surrounds, smaller towns – Anykščiai, Troškūnai, Vidiškės, Zapyškis and others, and architectural monuments such as churches, buildings. Kamarauskas tried to reconstruct the castles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as well, capturing images of the castles at Trakai, Kaunas, Vytėnai, Gelgaudiškis, Veliuona, Raudonė, , Mir, etc. In his depictions, he tried to convey the various brick bond methods, borders around openings such as doorways, windows, the cracks in the ruins, and the natural surrounds. The collection also contains several images of Saint Petersburg, its surrounds and other cities in Russia. Kamarauskas‘ rst solo exhibition took place in for the Vilnius City Executive Committee. Some time earlier, between January –June , , another exhibition Several of his works were exhibited at a show by was held at M. K. Čiurlionis House in Vilnius, called Visions of Vilnius from the Early th Century, where works by M. Dobuzhinsky and Kamarauskas Vilnius artists in , but the broader public could from the Lithuanian Art Museum’s collections were displayed.