Our alien legacy : German art during World War I in Vilnius

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Vokiečių menas; Pirmasis pasaulinis karas, 1914-1918 (Didysis karas; World War I); Vilnius; Kultūros istorija; German art; World War I; Vilnius; Cultural history.

ENDuring World War I German artists created a large number of works in the Ober Ost. The identity and boundaries of this multinational territory are rather problematic: it was not in the Russian empire, but not yet Lithuania, Poland, Belarus or Latvia. Occupied by Germany, it functioned as a rather autonomous military empire. During the entire twentieth century both German and Lithuanian art historians ignored the artistic legacy of this ‘no man’s land’. The research situation has changed in recent years, revealing new figures and a new artistic landscape. This paper discusses the parallel efforts that are being made in Lithuania and Germany nowadays to analyse this forgotten legacy. How should this legacy be treated today: as a part of German or of Lithuanian art? Is national discourse appropriate for this kind of artistic production? The paper is based on the case studies of two German artists, Cornelia Gurlitt (1890–1919) and Alfred Holler (1888–1954), both of whom resided and created in Vilnius during World War I. [From the publication]