Marianna Veryovkina (Marianne Werefkin, 1860-1938) was a famous German female painter around the turn of the 20th century. Through her family, who were landowners, she was linked to Lithuania. Being a daughter of a tsarist Russia general, she received an excellent education and devoted her life to art. Marianna spent her childhood in Lithuania, from 1868 she lived in Vilnius and was a student at Vilnius gymnasium. In 1879, the parents of Veryovkina purchased a manor close to Utena, in Vyžuonėlės, and named it “Blagodat” (Russian) (English: Grace). Marianna spent her summers there, rode horses, went hunting, engaged herself into caritative activity and liked to treat local people. She loved the Manor as her native home. Living in this Manor, she started her creative path; her parents built a studio in the park for their young daughter after she got interested in painting. In 1886, Veryovkina moved to Petersburg and began her studies with the Russian painter Ilya Repin, while in 1896, together with the friend, painter Alexei Yavlensky, moved again, this time to Munich to study painting and live there. A charismatic, energetic and intellectual painter dedicated herself to the pursuit of new art. Artists and aristocrats liked being at her home, in the famous salon…In 1909, she and other like-minded artists created “New Art Association”, an avant-garde group in Munich. Later, in 1912, the “Blue Rider” (Blaue Reiter), a movement of German expressionism, was established by a group of famous painters with Marianna among them. Leading German modernists Vasily Kandinsky, Alexei Yavlinsky, Paul Klee, Franz Marc, August Macke and others belonged to this group. When WWI broke out, Marianna Veryovkina moved to Switzerland. From 1918 to her death in 1938 she lived in Ascona on Lago Maggiore.
Veryovkina was among the first modernist female painters, a pioneer of expressionism in Europe. Decorativeness, combinations of bright and open colours, restless and dramatic moods, mystical visions were characteristic of her creation. She created figurative works, in which she depicted cities, scenes of urban life and landscapes with moving processions of people. Veryovkina would return to Lithuania from Munich quite often. In 1909–1910 she lived in Kaunas, while in 1914 – in Vilnius, where her brother Pyotr Veryovkin was governor. There are many paintings devoted to Lithuanian motifs in her creation: the painting “A Road. Three Lithuanian Women” (1907) portrays the Vyžuonėlės landscape with elderly peasant women there; the works “Police Station in Vilnius” (1914) and “Church of St Anne in Vilnius” (1914) present painted images of Vilnius. Marianna Veryovkina’s creative works are stored with Ascona Museum of Modern Art (Switzerland) and different Western European museums; exhibitions devoted to her creative works are held on a regular basis, as well as books and catalogues dedicated to her personality and creation are published.
To this day, in Vyžuonėlės near Utena, the Manor buildings, the park and Marianna Veryovkina’s studio have survived. The studio is the only one painter’s studio remained from the 19-the century. The buildings of the Manor after restoration of independence of Lithuania have been privatized; at present, they belong to different owners, are not maintained properly and are almost collapsing. Therefore, Marianna Veryovkina Society takes care of preservation of the Manor, its restoration to a new life, and, since 2014, has been holding international plein-air sessions and symposiums devoted to this painter. During these events, a broad cultural activity takes place promoting professional art – presentations of books and films are organized together with creation activity, as well as discussions and meetings with the public and Utena authorities concerning Manor preservation are held. The painters give to Marianna Veryovkina Society as a gift one of the plein-air works each. Thus, this collection of works is growing. Each year Marianna Veryovkina symposiums end in a solemn closing ceremony in the Manor together with an exhibition and a concert. As Marianna Veryovkina lived in different countries and her interests covered many European cultures, during this concert people listen to Russian romances, Jewish klezmer music and French chansons. Then, “Tea with Marianna Veryovkina” invites all participants to enjoy sitting and tasting various dishes at the table with a samovar in the centre. Many local people from Vyžuonėlės and Utena like coming to this event, as well as people of culture from across Lithuania.
The fourth international Marianna Veryovkina Symposium 2017 has been named Visionaries, because visions were characteristic of Veryovkina‘s paintings. The Symposium participants architects Valdas Jencius and Rita Škarnulienė have formulated the vision of Vyžuonėlės Manor restoration and adaptation. In July 7-16, at Vyžuonos rural tourism homestead “Stiklinukas”, each artist created his/her own vision to be presented at the Manor during Symposium closing ceremony and at the exhibition held at Utena Ethnographic Museum in August 2017. Thus, visitors enjoyed abstract visions characteristic of paintings of German Mariann Gielen and Lithuanians Antanas Obcarskas and Rita Škarnulienė, visionary landscapes of Mykolė Jencienė and Andrius Surgailis that have been inspired by the motifs of the Manor surroundings, a painting of Latvian Sarmite Caune who conveyed an impression of the flooded Vyžuona river, a vision of Marianna’s mother created byVita Balinskienė, a painting of Romualdas Balinskas with Veryovkina‘s face discernible as presented upside down, the visions of the transformed reality in the paintings of Saulius Dastikas, Ina Budrytė, Edita Rakauskaitė. The photograph of Marianna Veryovkina riding a horse has inspired a painting of Latvian realist Kalvis Zalitis and an enamel of the Lithuanian jeweller Arvydas Gurevičius.
During the Symposium, Utena community and Lithuanian culture specialists prepared a petition, urging the Utena District Municipality Council to adopt a respective decision and purchase Vyžuonėlės Manor buildings from private owners and devote the Manor with the park to the cultural and recreational activity:
AN OPEN LETTER
OF UTENA CITY AND DISTRICT COMMUNITY AND LITHUANIA CULTURE SPECIALISTS 11 July 2017
Vyžuonėlės Manor (Utena district) is a significant place to the entire Western culture due to the artist Marianna Veryovkina, a pioneer of modern art, the member of the Blue Rider movement, who once lived here. The Manor house is shabby, farming buildings are almost collapsing, the territory of the park is being “reduced” as is developed by new buildings. We would like to have the Manor restored, open to public, to know that professional culture from manors is fostered here through tourism and educational, entertainment, recreational events for Lithuanians and foreigners.
The current location of the Manor and its infrastructure would serve perfectly well to the city and district: just 3 km away from Utena, this Manor sits near the cycling path, three studs that are interested in participation in the Manor activity and a potential canoe route in the Vyžuona river. The most valuable wooden architecture house, farming buildings and the 19-th century park would comprise a spectacular ensemble so needed for Utena region, because it could promote development of accommodation, catering and entertainment businesses.
Marianna Veryovkina Society has been acting for 4 years now. The members conduct educational activity, hold discussions, symposiums and other cultural events intended for preservation of the Manor. However, this is not enough.
We, residents of Utena city and district, Lithuanian people of art, representatives of various cultural institutions and organizations, being aware of our responsibility to society,
ARE ASKING
Utena District Municipality Council to adopt a decision regarding purchasing of Vyžuonėlės Manor buildings from private owners and devote the Manor together with the park to cultural and recreational activity. We must act decisively so that our culture resources will be preserved. Just several years left for EU funding for cultural heritage preservation. Another several years of postponing would mean negligence and loss of the most unique objects we have had so far, while this heritage has an exclusive meaning to the entire Lithuania.
More information on Marianna Veryovkina Society activity on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marianaveriovkina/
