Description

“Song of Songs” (Heb. Shir ha-Shirim) is a poetic love song included in the Old Testament canon, read, explained, and interpreted by different cultures and religions throughout the centuries. In the Jewish tradition, it is understood as an allegorical representation of the bond between God and the people of Israel; in Christian culture, as a symbol of divine and human love; and in secular culture, it is valued as one of the most beautiful works of love poetry in human history. Its picturesque language, nature metaphors, and intensity of feelings have inspired the creation of many poets, composers, cantors, theologians, and artists. Translated into many languages and constantly rediscovered, the “Song of Songs” remains a universal testament to love, beauty, and spiritual longing.

This exhibition presents a cycle of twelve lithographs created in 1975 by the Litvak artist Théo Tobiasse (1927–2012) , inspired by the “Song of Songs”. The creator was born in the city of Jaffa in then-Palestine, but his parents originated from the Kaunas area. In 1929, the family briefly returned to Lithuania, lived in Panemunė, and later moved to Paris, where the future creator’s artistic language was formed. After the Second World War, Tobiasse worked in advertising design, but soon devoted himself entirely to art and became a prominent artist of the second half of the 20th century. His work constantly echoes childhood memories, reflections of Lithuanian landscapes and towns (shtetls), the history of the Jewish diaspora, themes of exile and wandering, biblical plots, and the cultural memory of the Jewish people. Tobiasse created works of painting, graphics, sculpture, ceramics, stained glass, and monumental art. In the “King Solomon’s Song of Songs” cycle, the poetry of the biblical text unfolds through the artist’s imagination, presenting a sensual, colorful, and deeply personal expression of love and memory.

The lithographs presented in the exhibition belong to the renowned collector of Litvak art, Dr. Samuel Tatz (Shmuel Tatz). Born in Lithuania, having studied in Kaunas, learned from Karolis Dineika in Druskininkai, later gained experience in Israel, and became an exceptional physical therapist in the USA, Shmuel Tatz is a Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences and the inventor of the unique therapeutic system “Body Tuning”. Over more than five decades of professional activity, he has worked with world-renowned musicians and performing artists, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich, Lou Reed, and Evgeny Kissin. Several books have been published about S. Tatz’s method, and he himself is the author and co-author of several books. The owner of one of the most interesting private collections of Litvak art admires the works of Chaim Soutine, Michel Kikoine, Pinchus Krémègne, Emmanuel Mané-Katz, Arbit Blatas, Jacques Lipchitz, and lesser-known artists. By presenting his collection, he aims to return the history of Litvak art to Lithuania’s cultural memory. This exhibition is another significant step towards this goal – an opportunity to see Théo Tobiasse’s “Song of Songs” lithograph cycle in Lithuania, as the artist’s creative dialogue with this text.

Exhibition Curator  – Aleksandra Jacovskytė;

Exhibition Coordinator – Liana Jagniatinskytė;