Kompozicija. Pažaislis 1921

Vytautas Kairiukstis made this artwork, Kompozicija. Pažaislis, with what looks like pastel, in no particular year that we know of. I’m imagining Kairiukstis outside, maybe on a blustery day, squinting at the Pažaislis Monastery through half-closed eyes. Look at how he’s translated the baroque architecture into these almost wobbly geometric shapes. The building becomes something solid yet soft, like a mirage or a memory. I love the way he’s layered the colors – those strokes of brown and orange fighting with patches of blues and whites. There is a sense of dynamism and movement as if the building is breathing. It makes me think about other artists, like the Cubists, who were breaking down forms and reassembling them in new ways. Each mark here feels like a question mark, a little experiment. It shows that artists are always riffing off each other, borrowing and stealing and transforming ideas across time.