Unikali kolekcija viename albumėlyje (Iš Nacionalinio M. K. Čiurlionio dailės muziejaus rinkinių)

LTMikalojų Konstantiną Čiurlionį (1875–1911) gerai žinome kaip talentingą dailininką ir kompozitorių, tačiau kaip fotografuojantį menininką jį pažįsta nedaugelis. 1905-ųjų vasarą, praleistą Kaukaze, Anapoje, kartu su mecenatų Wolmanų šeima, Čiurlionis užfiksavo fotografijose. Kaukaze Čiurlionis keliavo, tapė ir fotografavo, o didingos gamtos, kalnų įspūdžių parsivežė visam gyvenimui. Kelionės metu sukurtas 39 įvairaus formato fotografijas vėliau menininkas pats suklijavo į nedidelį albumėlį. Dailininkas užfiksavo Juodosios jūros pakrantės vaizdų, taip pat fotografavo uolas, burinius laivus (valtis), vietinius gyventojus ir jų buitį, kapines. Čiurlionio įamžinti vaizdai iš Kaukazo nesisieja su dokumentavimo, mokslinio pažinimo tikslais ar tuomet vyravusia portretų bei panoramų mada. Menininko fotografijos, darytos Kaukazo kalnų papėdėje ar Šiaurinės Juodosios jūros pakrantėje, kelia estetinį pasigėrėjimą, o Čiurlioniui suteikia meninės fotografijos pradininko Lietuvoje statusą ir atverčia naują jo kūrybinės biografijos puslapį. Lietuvoje tik 1919 m., t. y. praėjus 14 metų po Čiurlionio bandymų fotografijoje, Vilniaus Stepono Batoro universitete buvo įsteigta Meninės fotografijos katedra, kuri tapo pirmąja profesionalios fotografijos meno mokykla. [Iš straipsnio, p. 44]

ENWe know Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlions (1875 – 1911) as a talented artist and composer, however not everyone knows him as an artist who takes photos. Čiurlionis captured the summer of 1905s, spent in Caucasus, Anapa, together with patrons family Wolmanai. In Caucasus M. K. Čiurlionis was travelling, painting, and taking photos. The magnificent nature, mountains made him a huge impression for the whole life. During the trip, 39 photographs of different format were created, later they were glued to a small album by the artist. The artist captured the views of Black Sea seashore, cliffs, sailing boats, local inhabitants and their daily life, cemetery. The views of Caucasus captured by M. K. Čiurlionis are not related to the aims of documentation, scientific knowledge, or prevalent in that time tradition of portraits and panorama. The photos taken at the foot of Caucasus mountains or on the coast of the Northern Black Sea raise aesthetic pleasure, and give M. K. Čiurlionis the name of the initiator of artistic photography in Lithuania as well as opens a new page of his creative biography. In Lithuania only in 1919, after 14 years of Čiurlionis’ aesthetic searches in photography, the Department of Artistic Photography was established in Vilnius Stephan Batory University, which became the first art school of professional photography. The unique collection of photographs, though of poor quality of reproduction, allows to know and investigate one more area of the artist’s creation – artistic photography. In 2011, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art acquired a rare collection of photographs, glued in a small album and named by the author “Anapa 1905”.In 2000, celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of the famous artist, the photographs were exhibited for the first time. In M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art the exhibition “Still not Known Čiurlionis” was held, where these photographs were presented not as the relic of the extinct cultural heritage, but they were refined, photographed and enlarged. In the same year, a catalogue of photographs was published – “Still not Known Čiurlionis: Čiurlionis and Photography”, which was prepared by the director of M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art Osvaldas Daugelis. Recently, the artist’s photographs are often presented in international exhibitions and are the object of interest of many researchers. The collection of photographs is a significant part of the artist’s cultural heritage, opening one more and very important page of his creative biography. M. K. Čiurlionis is the initiator of professional art, music, and modern photography. Thus it is very important to turn to this creative area of the artist – photography, which is as if underrated, but is a bright and authentic witness of M. K. Čiurlionis’ creative talent. [From the publication]