M.K. Čiurlionis: Between Worlds

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Angels (Paradise), 1909. Courtesy M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art.

M.K. Čiurlionis: Between Worlds brings together over 100 works by the Lithuanian artist and celebrated composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911). Widely credited as Lithuania’s greatest artist, the exhibition will feature paintings and drawings created throughout his short but prolific career, with most travelling to the UK for the first time.

M.K. Čiurlionis: Between Worlds reveala how Čiurlionis used structure and colour to create works that travel between mythology and reality. The exhibition highlights the breadth of Čiurlionis’ interests, with a focus on humankind’s relationship to the universe, and examine the themes and motifs that aligned his art to European Symbolism. Bringing together Čiurlionis’ most accomplished masterpieces, including Creation of the World (1905/1906), The Zodiac (1906/1907) and Rex (1909), the Between Worlds exhibition positions him as a singular figure in the history of European art whose ethereal, and occasionally fantastical, works were precursors of abstract painting.

Čiurlionis left a profound imprint on Lithuanian culture and is among the country’s most loved and famous historical figures – his paintings are widely reproduced and his music is often performed internationally.