Eight original sculptures by Jacques Lipchitz have returned to Vilnius, the city that inspired his artistic vision. Internationally recognised as one of the pioneers of Cubist sculpture, he worked alongside Pablo Picasso and his works are held in leading museums around the world, including New York’s MoMA.
Works by Jacques Lipchitz, one of the pioneers of Cubist sculpture whose creations are held in major museums including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, are now on display in Vilnius for the first time.
The exhibition „Jacques Lipchitz. Sculptures–Pilgrims” brings twelve original works from Spain’s Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) to Lithuania. Marking the 135th anniversary of the artist’s birth, the exhibition returns his sculptures to the city where he first decided to become an artist. The works trace different stages of Lipchitz’s artistic journey, from the structured forms of his Cubist period to more fluid, expressive and dramatic compositions.
Although Lipchitz would later become part of the Parisian avant-garde alongside artists including Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris, it was Vilnius that laid the foundations of his artistic vision. Born in Druskininkai (Lithuanian resort town) to a Jewish family, he arrived in Vilnius as a teenager to study at the Vilnius Drawing School.
“We dedicated a special section of the exhibition to Vilnius because the city was fundamental to the development of Jacques Lipchitz’s artistic sensibility and his decision to become an artist. Vilnius remained vivid in his memory throughout his life, and he often spoke and wrote about the city, particularly its churches, whose architecture and sculptural decoration left a profound impression on him,” said exhibition curator Aušra Rožankevičiūtė.
The city’s distinctive Baroque architecture, particularly the sculptural interiors of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church, left a lasting impression on the young sculptor long before Cubism entered his life.
„I learned sculpture in the churches of Vilnius. They have never left my eyes. Back then, sculpture simply had to be white,” Lipchitz later recalled.
Presented in Lithuania for the first time, the exhibition traces Lipchitz’s artistic journey through twelve sculptures. Many were created in fragile materials such as plaster and terracotta, preserving the artist’s fingerprints and marks made by his own hands.
Among the highlights is Figure with Musical Instruments (1923), a rare plaster bas-relief that reflects Lipchitz’s groundbreaking Cubist period. The work explores one of Cubism’s defining themes: the relationship between the human figure and musical instruments.
The exhibition also explores other themes that shaped Lipchitz’s work. In Song of Songs (1946), the artist interprets the biblical poem of love, beauty and spiritual union from the Old Testament. Rather than illustrating the text directly, Lipchitz transforms it into an abstract composition of intertwined forms that evoke closeness and movement. Created shortly after the Second World War, the sculpture takes on a deeper meaning, with love becoming a symbol of hope and renewal after a period of profound loss.
Eight sculptures are on display at the Samuel Bak Museum in Vilnius, while four can be seen at the recently opened Jacques Lipchitz Museum in his birthplace of Druskininkai. Vilnius also presents a dedicated section exploring Lipchitz’s connection with the city through historic early twentieth-century views of the capital by photographer Jan Bułhak.
The exhibition offers a chance to discover one of the twentieth century’s most influential sculptors and the city where his artistic journey began. Visitors can still experience the Baroque churches and streets that inspired the young Lipchitz in one of Europe’s largest surviving Baroque Old Towns, protected by UNESCO.
„Jacques Lipchitz. Sculptures–Pilgrims” runs at the Samuel Bak Museum in Vilnius until November 22, 2026.
