An 8 day trip

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875 – 1910) became during his short life a famous composer and painter.

He was the first to write Lithuanian chamber and symphonic music. In total, he wrote more than 250 compositions for piano, stringed instruments, orchestra and chorus. The biggest part of his compositions was for piano (about 150 compositions).

Next to this, Čiurlionis left after his death more than 300 paintings. He started painting when he was laready a known composer. He painted music and gave his paintings musical titles. Čiurlionis developed his unique style of painting. 

According to Julien Vermeulen (an art magazine of Vlaanderen 2004, 53rd issue year, nr. 5), this reciprocity between the painting art and music is most probably responsible for the mind-broadening abstract signature of his art. Such themes as the creation, the music and the play with all kinds of comic symbols allowed him to re-structure easily the reality. Čiurlionis is considered the first abstract painter in Europe.

During his life, Čiurlionis lived at different places in Lithuania. In Druskininkai, where he spent the bigger part of his youth and to where he later returned many times to draw his inspiration or to compose in quiet and peace. In Plunge, where he studied at the orchestra school of Prins Oginski. In Palanga, where he painted his famous “Sonata of the Sea”, among other paintings, and – finally – in Vilnius, where he lived and worked for a considerable period of time and where he found his last resting-palce.