“Dedicated to the 125-year anniversary of the sculptor, the exhibition was thoroughly planned for a few years. Playfully speaking, it would be easier to get the president of France to come to Lithuania than to bring the Lipchitz sculptures from Paris’ museums. First of all, we had to persuade representatives of the French Pompidou Center and the Museum of Jewish History and Art to allow us to bring five of his sculptures and paintings. After getting the permit, we had to provide suitable conditions for transportation of the works of art, as some of the sculptures are made of extremely fragile materials,” Markas Zingeris, director of the Vilnius State Gaon Museum, said in a press release.
In his words, extensive efforts were put into the management of archives of Lipchitz’s personal documents and letters, which had been received from his daughter Lolya Rachel Lipchitz who lives in the US.
The Jewish sculptor was born in Druskininkai, southern Lithuania, in 1891 and lived there with his family until the age of 17. In early 1900s, he left Lithuania for France and gained fame in Western Europe and the United States. He created most of his sculptures in the US, and now they are displayed in famous public spaces across the United States, namely, the Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, the grounds of Minnesota University’s Tweed Museum of Art, the territory of Columbia University, as well as in New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, etc.
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