Lithuanian Art Centre Tartle in Vilnius provides an opportunity to discover Lithuanian art treasures and historical artefacts. Among them, many pieces are of Polish origin.
The Lithuanian Art Centre Tartle (Lietuvos meno pažinimo centras Tartle), located in Užupis (Užupio St. 40) – one of the oldest districts of Vilnius – was opened in August 2018. The centre offers a unique opportunity to explore Lithuania’s history through art by showcasing original exhibits from various time periods.
The founders of the Lithuanian Art Centre are the Lithuanian Art Foundation (a public entity) and the collector Rolandas Valiūnas.
Currently, the collection includes approximately 1,000 paintings, over 360 sculptures, more than 490 maps, and over 1,100 pieces of historic graphic art – with the oldest dating back to the 15th century.
It also holds more than 2,000 Lithuanian-related books and other publications published before 1905. Additionally, the collection features Lithuanian medals, silver coins, and other artefacts such as ancient Lithuanian armour, weapons, currency, and jewellery.
Art historian Emilija Vanagaitė from the Lithuanian Art Centre Tartle invited me to the museum.
Emilija Vanagaitė: We don’t only collect works by Lithuanian artists — if there’s a Polish artist who worked or traveled in Vilnius, we collect their works as well. Likewise, if there’s a Belarusian or German artist or writer connected to Lithuania, we include their works. Anything with even a slight connection to Lithuanian history, we want to have in our collection. Currently, there are over 8,000 exhibits in our collection, which, as we know, makes us one of the largest private collections in Central Europe. And of course, it’s not just art exhibits; we also have old pagan stones and even some contemporary pieces.
The building that houses the Lithuanian Art Centre Tartle is itself historic.
Emilija Vanagaitė: Before there was a restaurant with a beautiful view, but it burned down. Rolandas Valiūnas decided to rebuild it. He wanted to create a home for himself and his family, who live in the building, as well as a space for all the artworks. Of course, he also wanted to make the collection public, not just private. Many people own artworks but don’t display them or share their stories.
Emilija Vanagaitė reveals the origin and meaning of the word Tartle, which later became the brand name of the Lithuanian Art Centre.
Emilija Vanagaitė: It’s an old Scottish word with a very specific meaning that isn’t really used anymore. It describes a feeling – the simplest example would be when you walk down the street, see someone, and feel like, “Oh, I know that person,” but you can’t remember where you know them from or what their name is. It’s the feeling of having forgotten something that you actually really know. We have two examples of this feeling. The first is when a person comes to a museum or sees sculptures and feels like they have seen the style or composition somewhere before, but they can’t quite place what it is or who created it. The second, very important to the founder of this museum, relates to how we look at our history. We only know the key moments, but we often can’t remember many other events. Through artworks and art pieces, we try to tell and help people remember the history of Lithuania.
The history of Lithuania is closely intertwined with that of Poland.
Emilija Vanagaitė: Of course, since the history of Lithuania and Vilnius is quite intertwined with the Polish nation, and Vilnius (Wilno) belonged to Poland during the interwar period, there was a whole different school of art here that didn’t develop in the rest of Lithuania at that time. Because of that, we have quite a lot of Polish artists from the interwar period in our collection, which is important to illustrate the diversity of artistic schools. Among them are people who were professors and staff at Stefan Batory University in Wilno. Additionally, we have a wide range of images created by students, many of whom remain unidentified, from the Stefan Batory University period. These works proudly illustrate the time when Vilnius was part of Poland and had strong cultural and academic authorities here. We have a large collection of graphic art by Jerzy Hoppen, featuring views of the city of Vilnius, including many beautiful and romantic images. Our collection also includes portfolios from various Polish artists who worked in Vilnius during that time. Of course, after the interwar period, when Vilnius became part of Lithuania again, most of these artists expatriated to Poland and continued their work there. However, we have this fascinating period of a few decades when Vilnius was truly a melting pot of diverse influences and artistic approaches, which were very unique to this city.
Emilija Vanagaitė and the Lithuanian Art Centre Tartle are always happy to welcome guests from Poland.
Emilija Vanagaitė: Some of them even feel like stories of how their grandparents lived there, and it’s really a beautiful thing to have this kind of collaboration – a peaceful exchange within the space of art. It’s like having a conversation about times that have been lost and what has been left behind in the past.
For Europe East Viktar Korbut
The author expresses gratitude to Jurgita Semenauskienė, Director of the Lithuanian Art Centre Tartle, for assistance in acquainting with the exhibition.