Missing work · information sought
Bokštas
(Tower / Bell Tower)
A documented missing tempera by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. The work is known from an archival photograph and is also recorded under the Lithuanian titles Varpinė and Garsas. Its present location has not been established.
Archival reproduction. Source: M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art / ciurlionis.eu.
1875–1911
(Tower)
Research notice
Do you recognise this work?
We are seeking any credible reference to the original painting: photographs, exhibition or inventory records, collection notes, estate papers, museum files, storage documentation or correspondence.
If the original survives in lawful private ownership, confidential acquisition enquiries are welcome. No purchase figure is being published for this work at present.
What is known
Bokštas is one of the documented works by Čiurlionis whose present whereabouts remain unknown. The current official Čiurlionis digital catalogue lists the painting among the missing works and identifies its technique as tempera. The online record does not currently provide a date.
The painting is known through an archival photograph attributed to V. Jurgaitis. Older documentation also records the work under the titles Varpinė (Bell Tower) and Garsas (Sound).
At the centre of the composition is a bell tower with a ringing bell turned toward the left. A bird approaches from the left, flying toward the viewer. The stripped-down architecture, suspended bell and isolated bird give the image the concentrated, musical symbolism characteristic of Čiurlionis.
Known from a photograph attributed to V. Jurgaitis.
Varpinė (Bell Tower); Garsas (Sound).
Tempera.
The work is listed as missing in the official Čiurlionis catalogue; no secure present location is publicly established.
What could help
A reference in an old collection inventory, an exhibition catalogue, a photograph of an interior, an estate archive, a museum accession file or even a family recollection could help reconnect the work with its later provenance.
Sources: M. K. Čiurlionis digital catalogue, “Bokštas” and the catalogue list of missing paintings; archival descriptive material supplied for this research file.
Comments & research notes
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