The idea of the news is expressed through the image of a powerful bird flying in from the mist, across the mountains and into the sun. The idea is expressed clearly and with dynamism. A perfect and laconic composition as well as a great palette of colours create the impression of free flight.

From Valerija Čiurlionytė-Karužienė's memoirs (VU Library, Manuscript Department, F 153-1978)

In 1914, with the onset of World War I, the work of M. K. Čiurlionis had to be evacuated. This was when a painting by the name of “The News” was lost. It turned out that after the second Lithuanian Art Exhibition, it was never returned to the author.

In 1926-1927, Karužienė visited doctor Jonas Stonkus in Kaunas and saw “The News” hanging on the wall. It so happened that he had bought the painting directly from the exhibition.

In 1941, as World War II began, Karužienė once again decided to visit the Stonkus family in order to ascertain the state of the painting. Unfortunately, the house was empty, and the painting no longer decorated the wall. Nobody knew where the owners of the house had gone.

In 1971, Karužienė began to look for Stonkus in the USA. She found his son, doctor S. Stonkus. Unfortunately, he did not have the painting in his possession, but in a letter dated 24 November 1971, he related its entire story:

“...The painting was purchased by my father, doctor Jonas Stonkus, around 1908, in Vilnius. It had been on display at an exhibition of Čiurlionis' paintings and was, it would seem, entitled 'Wiesc' in Polish. It seems that Čiurlionis and my father had known each other from earlier times. <...>

For many years, the painting was our great pride and decorated our home in Gedimino Street, in Kaunas. In 1916, the war forced our family to evacuate to the depths of Russia. Everything, including “The News”, was left behind at our house. Two and a half years later, once the war was over, we returned to Kaunas, but found our house had been completely ransacked. By some miraculous coincidence, my mother noticed M. K. Čiurlionis' “News” among a bunch of furniture piled in one of the city's warehouses.

Despite all of the perturbations and disturbances, this pastel creation had suffered relatively little. During the year of independence, “The News” was kept in our home in Kaunas, on Gedimino Street, where my sister Januškevičienė lived with her family for the last few years.

In 1940, they departed for Samogitia and handed the painting over to Antanas and Birutė Navickas for safekeeping. At the time they lived in Kaunas, at No. 4 Vaičaičio Street. The Navickas family left Lithuania that very same year and the painting was left behind in their apartment.

Thus ended the trail of Čiurlionis' “News”. However, my sister did hear that someone had noticed the painting in the ground floor of the same building, No. 4 Vaičaičio Street.”

Having returned to Kaunas on 8 February 1972, Valerija Čiurlionytė-Karužienė visited the indicated address. Upon entering the room she immediately saw “The News” hanging on the wall. The painting found its way to the Čiurlionis Gallery that very same day.

All

The News

The City. From the cycle of sketches “The City”.