M. K. Čiurlionis, simbolizmas ir modernizmo aušra Rytų Europoje

LTLietuvių dailininko ir kompozitoriaus Mikalojaus Konstantino Čiurlionio (1875-1911) kūryba - sudėtingas ir daugiabriaunis reiškinys, ypatingas ne tik Lietuvos, bet ir Europos XX amžiaus pradžios mene. Lietuvos dailės panoramoje šis dailininkas liko išskirtinis ir vienišas. Tačiau M. K. Čiurlionio kūryba daugeliu aspektų dera anuo metu žymiai veržliau besivysčiusios Rytų Europos (Lenkijos, Rusijos) dailės aplinkoje. Be to, sutelkusi savyje daugelį fin-de-Siėcle (amžiaus pabaigos) meno ypatybių, pačiose savo gelmėse ji koncentravo ir kai kurias anuo metu dar ryškiau neišsikristalizavusio XX amžiaus Europos dailės avangardo idėjas. Šios mintys reikalautų gilaus ir visapusiško pagrindimo, todėl straipsnio tikslas kuklesnis, bet tiesiogiai susijęs su Čiurlionio dailės įterpimo į Europos meno kontekstą uždaviniais. Rašinyje siekiama išryškinti kai kuriuos M. K. Čiurlionio ir Europos dailės sąlyčio taškus, daugiausiai dėmesio skiriant intelektualiesiems, dvasiniams ano meto Rytų Europos dailės pagrindams.

ENČiurlionis’ (1875-1911) creative period coincided with great changes in art at the turn of the 20th century. The majority of artistic traits and viewpoints of that period are intertwined in the painting of this artist. The article deals not so much with Čiurlionis’ creation as with the most important sources and reasons for his being so unique in the creation. Čiurlionis spent a great deal of his time in Poland, Lithuania as well as in Russia being at the top of his creative activities, that is why much attention is paid to the discussion on the spiritual atmosphere of Warsaw and Petersburg. Although the above mentioned cities were rather remarkable centres of the cultural life in Eastern Europe, still, the majority of the phenomena in art were dilatory in comparison with those in Western Europe. In Čiurlionis’ creation this does not manifest itself as immediate symbolistic or modernistic occurrences but as reflections of the most general fundamentals of the Fin-de-Siecle art. The ties with the Orientalism and Japonism were those that were of much help to Čiurlionis to render his ideas of the cultural and religious syncretism into his creation. Another question on discussion in the article is a problem of the explanation of the connection between philosophy, theosophy, occultism and Čiurlionis’ creation. These determinations are not aimed at the person of Čiurlionis, however, in some of his paintings the features of the theosophic doctrine are evident („Eternity“, 1906, „Summer“, 1907, „The Altar“, 1908 etc.). The discussion of solitary symbols and motifs leads to the conclusion that esoteric teachings of the beginning of the 20th century were the source for Čiurlionis’ creation.The vanguard fine arts of the 20th century has developed from the symbolism of the 19th century, and they are connected by common philosophical principles. At the interpretation of the unsolved problem of the ties between Čiurlionis’ and Kandinsky’s creation the attention is paid to the common fundamentals of the creation of these two artists as well as to the similar trajectory of their creative idea. To our mind, these two painter should be estimated as two evident parallels, as the phenomena of equal value of the beginning of the 20th century, and not as the rivals against each other. Čiurlionis is related to the Fin-de-Siecle epoch by some spiritual state and by the similar character of symbols while the rising epoch of modernism and abstractionism manifest themselves in the compositional structure of some of his paintings as well as in the origin of graphic principle, and in the way of abstracting details. The Fin-de-Siecle world image was essential to him, however, the plasticity and compositions of his paintings go beyond the limits of the epoch of symbolism. Čiurlionis’ creation takes an important place in modernism by these aspects.