We begin our acquaintance with Čiurlionis’s Vilnius here, in his home, where he lived during that period.

Čiurlionis came to the capital for the first time in December 1906, when he was invited to participate in and present his works at the First Exhibition of Lithuanian Art. We will tell you more about this exhibition at the next stop on the route – the Vileišis Palace, where it took place.

Apparently, the vibrant cultural life of the capital made a strong impression on Čiurlionis, because already in September 1907 he decided to move from Warsaw to Vilnius. We can recall that he had been living in Warsaw since the autumn of 1902: at first he studied at J. Kauzik’s Drawing School, and later began his studies at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts.

Savičiaus Street (1903) © vilnius21.lt

During this period, he also travelled extensively. One summer, he spent time with his fellow student Bronisław Wolman’s family in Anapa, on the Black Sea, and travelled across the Caucasus. Later, he stayed at the artists’ retreat in Ribiniškės, Latvia, established by art patron E. Kerbedienė. He also took part in a plein-air workshop in Istebna, in the Austrian-ruled Carpathian region, organised by his school. He again spent the summer with the Wolman family – this time in the Krynica resort in Poland. Soon after, supported by the Wolmans, he travelled across Europe, visiting Prague, Dresden, Nuremberg, Munich, and Vienna.

M. K. Čiurlionis with the Wolman family and friends (1905) © ciurlionis.eu

If today it is common for us to travel and easily reach any chosen country, at that time seeing different cities, cultures, traditions, and landscapes was not so simple. Therefore, we can only imagine how richly Čiurlionis’s world and his understanding of it expanded during that period. From such a life in Warsaw, Čiurlionis then moved to Vilnius. In Sofija Kymantaitė-Čiurlionienė’s memoirs, we can find the following explanation:

[...] Leaving Warsaw, where he had many friends and lived at the centre of the musical and artistic world, was prompted by two reasons. After the first [Lithuanian] art exhibition, it suddenly became clear to him not only that his place was in Lithuania – in Vilnius – but that he was driven, as if by some [Immanuel Kant’s] “categorical imperative,” to work here in the field of art: to awaken, to uplift, to show people what they themselves were capable of creating. [...] Founding a Lithuanian choir in Vilnius seemed to him the first goal.

After arriving here, he rented a room in this house, which at that time was numbered 6. Čiurlionis did not live in Vilnius for very long – about eight months.

While living in Vilnius, he met Sofija, the love of his life. As he complained in his letters, he was not very productive artistically during this period, since he devoted himself to activities important for Lithuanian culture: as Vice-Chairman of the Lithuanian Art Society, he organised the Second Lithuanian Art Exhibition, conducted the “Vilniaus Kanklės” choir four times a week, published critical articles in the press and contributed to the national movement.

The M. K. Čiurlionis House in Vilnius, where our visit begins, was established as a memorial museum in 1995. This initiative was led by the M. K. Čiurlionis Society, founded in 1987, which conducted research and confirmed through historical documents that the artist had indeed lived in these premises. Today, this place not only tells the story of his time in Vilnius but is also one of the few institutions in Lithuania that comprehensively presents Čiurlionis’s creative and biographical legacy.

VISITOR INFORMATION

❯ Regular museum opening hours*:

Tue–Fri: 11:00–17:00

Sat: 13:00–17:00

* Before your visit, please check the museum’s website ↗ for up-to-date opening hours and visitor information.

❯ Enhance your experience by booking one of the educational programs offered by the museum ↗.

❯ Discover Vilnius and Čiurlionis’s era in greater depth by joining a guided tour ↗.

❯ You can also experience Čiurlionis in a new way through the virtual reality journeys “The Path of Angels” and “The Creation of Worlds” ↗.

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Prepared based on sources:

ciurlionis.eu, ciurlioniokelias.lt, mkcnamai.lt

M. K. Čiurlionio namai

M. K. Čiurlionio namai

M. K. Čiurlionio namai

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