Art history in the interwar Vilnius

Racionalistinės Apšvietos idėjos paskatino meno disciplinas steigti universitetuose, arčiau filosofijos, istorijos ir kitų mokslų. Vilniaus universitete 1793−1832 m. veikusi Meno mokykla (architektūros, piešimo ir tapybos, skulptūros, raižybos katedros) po sukilimo caro valdžios buvo uždaryta. Istorijos aplinkybėms lėmus, universitetas atkurtas Lenkijos valstybės vado Juzefo Pilsudskio dekretu ir ėmė veikti 1919 m. spalio 11 d. Lenkijos karaliaus ir Lietuvos Didžiojo kunigaikščio Stepono Batoro vardu pavadintame universitete, tęsiant Apšvietos amžiaus tradiciją, įsteigtos dailės studijos1. Dailės fakultete buvo dėstomi praktiniai dalykai, skirta dėmesio ir meno istorijai. Trečiame-ketvirtame XX a. dešimtmečiais čia susiklostė savarankiškas menotyros židinys. Tarpukario Vilniaus menotyra Lietuvoje kol kas nuosekliai netyrinėta. [...]In 1919 under the initiative of the state of Poland the University was reopened in Vilnius, and named after Stefan Batory. Following the tradition of the 19th century, the Faculty of Arts was founded at the University. The organizer and longevous leader of the Faculty was a famous Vilnius artist Ferdynand Ruszczyc. In 1922 a department of Art history was founded at the faculty, which provided theoretical studies for future artists and architects (no art historians and critics were being prepared at that time). The work of the Department was started by Jerzy Remer, later the famous art historian Marian Morelowski became the subsequent head of the Department. The subjects of art history were taught by specialists, invited from Poland. The subjects taught included general art history, the painting of Poland, the history of wooden architecture, museology and heritage protection, practices of inventory of monuments also took place. The art exploration origins in Vilnius should be searched for in the multi-coloured cultural movement of the beginning of the 20th century. The photographers and artists of Vilnius were documenting heritage objects of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, travel guides for Vilnius, and cultural magazines were being issued. Vilnius Society of Friends of Science (Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk w Wilnie) brought the local intellectuals together. The art specialists, who came to work to the University of Stefan Batory, started the heritage research of the epoch of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. [...]Menotyros katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta