"Last spring of peace" - exhibition inside exhibition

Lietuvos dailės muziejaus (LDM) Prano Domšaičio galerijoje nuo 2014 m. rugsėjo 5 d. iki gruodžio 31 d. veikusi paroda „Paskutinis taikos pavasaris“ – tai integrali parodos „Nuostabioji žemė. Dailininkai Rytų Prūsijoje. XIX a.–XX a. pirmos pusės tapyba ir grafika iš Aleksandro Popovo rinkinio“ dalis. Minint pirmosios Kuršių nerijai skirtos parodos šimtmetį, buvo pasitelkti anuomet joje dalyvavusių autorių kūriniai iš šiuo metu veikiančios ekspozicijos – taip atkurtas menamas istorinės parodos fragmentas. Lankytojams buvo parengta informacija apie 1914 m. parodą, o ekspozicijos schema padėjo surasti jos dalyvius.On 1st of May 1914, the first exhibition devoted to the Curonian Spit “The Curonian Spit in Science and Art” (Die Kurische Nehrung in Wissenschaft und Kunst), also known as “Exhibition of Spit’s Images in Art Gallery” (Ausstellung von Nehrungs-bildern in der Kunsthalle) opened in Konigsberg. Majority of the artworks in exhibition were landscapes of the Curonian Spit, from Juodkrantė (German: Schwarzort) to Šarkuva (German: Sarkau; nowadays – Lesnoy). Together with them several figurative compositions, portraits, and two bronze elk sculptures were exhibited. Stylistic variety of the exhibition was impressive: from realism, late impressionism to expressionism. It had a big success and received favourable comments in press. Exhibition was important in two respects. First, it summed up seven decades of depiction of the Curonian Spit in paintings of East Prussian artists. Second, exhibition summarized the early period of Nida artists’ colony. Exhibition “The Last Spring of Peace” was held from 5th of September to 31st of December 2014 at the Pranas Domšaitis Gallery as an integral part of exhibition “The Wonderful Land. Artists in East Prussia. 19th and the First Half of the 20th Century Paintings and Graphic Art from the Collection of Aleksandr Popov”. It was an attempt to commemorate the century of the first exhibition devoted to the Curonian Spit, by reconstructing a small fragment of this historical event, on the basis of 1914 exhibition catalogue and other information available. 15 out of 32 artists involved in historic exhibition are represented by their artworks in the collection of Aleksandr Popov. Paintings of 12 artists involved in 1914 event were on display at the exhibition “The Wonderful Land”. They were marked with additional labels and became part of integral exhibition “The Last Spring of Peace”. Visitors were given information about 1914 exhibition and map helped to identify the participants of this historical event and their works