Brazilian Modernist from Vilnius: Return of Lasar Segall

Lasar Segall is one of the greatest Brazilian modernists, known to art experts as a pioneer of expressionism in Brazil. In the 1930s, Segall was famous for his decadent carnivals, modernist manifestos, and avant-garde ideas of artistic freedom promoted in São Paulo by the Society for Modern Art. He was also famous as a painter of the exotic nudes of favelas, and as the person who brought together over a hundred artists to the avantgarde arts exhibition, including André Lhote, Constantin Brancusi, Fernand Léger and another Litvak Jacques Lipchitz. Following in the footsteps of the famous post-impressionist Paul Cezanne, in Vilnius Segall was learning how to look at the surrounding world, so that it would be possible to immortalize it in a work of art, for example, the way he used colorful glass: “With pieces of colored glass in the sunlight I used to look at my native landscape, in red, yellow, green, or blue… With these pieces of glass I began my transformation of the world into form and color. I can still remember the various psychological reactions which gave me strange emotions. If looking through the red glass I felt moved by a tremendous sense of exaltation, so blue or green glasses sent me into a state of calm serenity, while dark purple gave me a sad and painful impression of the landscape I was looking at”.

 

In order to reveal contribution of Segall to the history of modern art, the diversity of his identity, the variety of creative themes, the exhibition "Brazilian Modernist from Vilnius: The Return of Lasar Segall" will present his paintings, watercolors, graphics and sculptures.The symbolic return of the works of Segall to his birthplace will also commemorate the 130th anniversary of the artist's birth.