{"id":233749,"date":"2026-07-09T22:39:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vilnius-events.lt\/?post_type=event&p=233749"},"modified":"2026-07-12T10:38:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T07:38:00","slug":"lt-jeruzal-e-i-de-imtme-iai-sode-teodoras-kazimieras-valaitis","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/www.vilnius-events.lt\/en\/event\/lt-jeruzal-e-i-de-imtme-iai-sode-teodoras-kazimieras-valaitis\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeruzal\u0117. Six Decades in the Garden: Teodoras Kazimieras Valaitis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exhibition of works by Teodoras Kazimieras Valaitis<\/strong> (1934\u20131974)<\/p>\n

Vlado Vild\u017ei\u016bnas Gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 9 July at 7:00 PM<\/strong>, the Vlado Vild\u017ei\u016bnas Gallery<\/strong> will open the exhibition Jeruzal\u0117. Six Decades in the Garden: Teodoras Kazimieras Valaitis<\/strong>. The opening evening will feature improvised performances by Janas Maksimovi\u010dius<\/strong> and Eugenijus Kanevi\u010dius<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Artists who belong to a nation’s artistic canon are often remembered only on milestone anniversaries. Yet these commemorations remain meaningful, allowing new generations to encounter their work with fresh eyes. The strong public response to the gallery’s exhibitions dedicated to Vladas and Marija Vild\u017ei\u016bnas<\/strong> and Kazimiera Zimblyt\u0117<\/strong> (2022\u20132024) demonstrated the continued relevance of these artists. The exhibition on Teodoras Kazimieras Valaitis<\/strong> naturally continues this series, placing him among Lithuania’s “silent modernists”\u2014artists who gathered at the Vild\u017ei\u016bnas home in Jerusalem, Vilnius, during the 1960s\u20131980s, creating an oasis of artistic freedom where the conventions of Socialist Realism were challenged and authentic connections with the wider world beyond the Iron Curtain were forged.<\/p>\n

Valaitis’ most recent retrospective, marking the anniversaries of his birth and death, was presented in July 2024 at the Antanas Mon\u010dys House-Museum<\/strong> in Palanga. Lasting less than a month, that exhibition now finds an extension in Vilnius, where it is enriched by the historical context of the Vild\u017ei\u016bnas home and the Jerusalem Sculpture Garden. It also marks the return of Valaitis’ works to these spaces after a 22-year absence.<\/p>\n

Many visitors may recall an iconic image preserved in the memories of those who knew the artist:<\/p>\n

“In the summer of 1973, a year before his death, Teodoras rode on a black horse from the Rie\u0161\u0117 stud farm to visit us in Jerusalem. Like a romantic knight, he circled the meadow around Vladas’ sculpture Barbara<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

These rare 16 mm film recordings by Vladas Vild\u017ei\u016bnas<\/strong> are among the few moving images documenting Valaitis during his lifetime.<\/p>\n

In the autumn of 1974, Valaitis died in a fire, leaving behind a studio filled with unrealised ideas. Within a day and a half, fellow sculptors Stanislovas Kuzma<\/strong>, Leonas Virbickas<\/strong>, and \u0160ar\u016bnas \u0160imulynas<\/strong> carved an oak memorial to honour him.<\/p>\n

The friendship between Vladas Vild\u017ei\u016bnas<\/strong> and Teodoras Valaitis<\/strong> began during their studies at the Vilnius Art Institute and continued until Valaitis’ untimely death. They shared a fascination with leading modernist sculptors including Henry Moore<\/strong>, Constantin Br\u00e2ncu\u0219i<\/strong>, Jean Arp<\/strong>, Alexander Calder<\/strong>, and Jacques Lipchitz<\/strong>, as well as a common understanding of monumentality in sculpture. After Valaitis’ death, Vild\u017ei\u016bnas and the artist’s close friends continued preserving and promoting his legacy, overseeing the production of works in durable materials and presenting them internationally.<\/p>\n

Teodoras Kazimieras Valaitis is regarded as one of the most significant Lithuanian modernist artists of the second half of the twentieth century. Remembered by his contemporaries as an intellectual, a universal creator, a Renaissance man, and an aristocrat of the spirit, he pursued ambitious artistic ideas despite the restrictions of Soviet society.<\/p>\n

Although widely recognised for his innovative interior designs for restaurants and Soviet exhibition pavilions abroad\u2014many of which have since disappeared\u2014Valaitis also developed a quieter, more introspective body of work devoted to “pure art.” This lesser-known aspect of his practice is the focus of the exhibition.<\/p>\n

The exhibition includes:<\/p>\n