Grafikas per prievartą: Jokūbas Lipšicas

LTStraipsnyje aptariami dailės istorikės Ingridos Korsakaitės tyrimai, skirti piešinio istorijai XX a. Lietuvos dailėje ir tarpukario žydų dailės istorijai. Su šiomis jos akademinių interesų sritimis susiejami Holokausto dailės, tiksliau - Kauno geto dailininkų kūrybos, naujausi atradimai. Rekonstruojama kauniečio dailininko Jokūbo Lipšico / Jacob Lipschitz (1905-1945) biografija ir apžvelgiamas jo meninis palikimas, išlikęs Kauno geto slaptavietėje ir sutelktas Yad Vashem muziejuje Jeruzalėje, atskleidžiant, kaip ir kodėl įsitikinęs ekspresionizmo tapybos sekėjas aplinkybėms privertus tapo atidžių ir subtiliu Kauno geto kasdienybę dokumentuojančiu piešėju. Reikšminiai žodžiai: grafika, Holokausto dailė, Kauno getas, Jokūbas Lipšicas /Jacob Lipschitz, tikrovės reprezentacija.

ENThe article examines the research of art historian Ingrida Korsakaitė, which focuses on the history of drawing in 20th-century Lithuanian art and interwar Lithuanian Jewish art. Special attention is given to her monograph Antanas Gudaitis. Drawings (1973). The latest discoveries in the exploration of Holocaust art, particularly the works of artists from the Kaunas Ghetto, are related to Korsakaitė s academic interests. The biography of Kaunas artist Jokūbas Lipšicas / Jacob Lipschitz (1903-1945) is reconstructed, and his artistic legacy - preserved in the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem after being hidden in the Kaunas Ghetto - is reviewed. This legacy reveals how a devoted follower of Expressionist painting became, through the force of circumstances, a keen and sensitive draughtsman, documenting the daily realities of life in the ghetto. Lipschitz turned to graphic art after being commissioned by the Kaunas Ghetto Council of Elders to depict life in the ghetto, working alongside Esther Lurie, a prewar acquaintance, and Josef Schlesinger, a student of the Prague Academy of Fine Arts whom he likely met in the ghetto. Together, they documented the reality of Jews driven to Vilijampolė - the “others,” forcibly isolated and imprisoned behind barbed wire, in a world that had lost all semblance of normality. Lipschitz became a graphic artist not by choice but through the force of circumstances or, in other words, under compulsion. Little is known about Lipschitz’s experiences in the ghetto, his thoughts or emotions during these harrowing days, weeks, months, and years. The primary testimony of his life during that time are images - his drawings and watercolours, created in the ghetto.When searching for biographical information about Lipschitz, the primary source is his Autobiography (February 28, 1936). This document, handwritten in Lithuanian - likely by one of the artist s friends - is preserved among the Justinas Vienožinskis Files at the Lithuanian National Museum of Art archives. It is part of a collection of materials gathered for a book on modern Lithuanian art and its creators, in which Lipschitz was to be featured. This inclusion highlights his recognition beyond the Jewish community as a promising artist who represented Lithuanian national culture. Lipschitz maintained friendships with talented and influential Lithuanian artists, whose support in early 1940 enabled him to secure a venue for a solo exhibition at the headquarters of the Lithuanian Artists’ Union and to publish an exhibition catalogue. His work was also selected for the Kaunas artists’ exhibition in autumn 1940, held in Vilnius, the historical capital newly incorporated into Lithuania. Currently, there are no works by Lipschitz in Lithuanian museums, except for Self-Portrait (1940), housed in the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History. Therefore, showcasing his ghetto drawings from the Yad Vashem collection not only sheds light on this period of his life but also restores his place in the history of Lithuanian artistic culture. Keywords: graphic art, Holocaust art, Kaunas Ghetto, Jokūbas Lipšicas / Jacob Lipschitz, representation of reality.

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