Petras Rimša (, 3 November 1881 in Naudžiai, Vilkaviškis district – 2 October 1961 in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

) was one of the first professional

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n sculptors and medalists.

Biography

Rimša was born to a family of farmers in

Suvalkija Suvalkija or Sudovia ( or ''Sūduva'') is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija (Suvalkijans) are called (plural) or (singular) in Lithuanian. It is located sout ...

, which was then part of

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. He was educated privately in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

under Pius Weloński (1900–1903), at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

in Paris under

Antonin Mercié Marius Jean Antonin Mercié (October 30, 1845 in Toulouse – December 12, 1916 in Paris), was a French Sculpture, sculptor, Medalist, medallist and Painting, painter. Biography Mercié entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, ...

(1903–1904), and Cracow Academy of Fine Arts under

Konstanty Laszczka Konstanty Laszczka (born 3 September 1865 in Makowiec Duży; died 23 March 1956 in Kraków) was a Polish sculptor, painter, graphic artist, as well as professor and rector (academia), rector of the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. Las ...

(1904–1905). However, he never graduated and never received any degrees. After return to Lithuania in 1905, he immersed in various Lithuanian cultural activities. Rimša was involved in founding of the Lithuanian Art Society and organizing the first national art exhibition in 1907. He exhibited his first realistic and patriotic works, which gained him recognition in Lithuania. He returned to education, studying at the Drawing School of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

from 1909 to 1911. After the studies he remained in Russia, participating in Lithuanian activities and exhibitions of Russian

impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subjec ...

. He experimented with metal inlays and graphic works, which were influenced by

Japonism ''Japonisme'' is a French term that refers to the popularity and influence of Japanese art and design among a number of Western European artists in the nineteenth century following the forced reopening of foreign trade with Japan in 1858. Japon ...

and

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

. In 1919, he returned to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, Lithuania. However, after the Polish takeover of the

Vilnius Region Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time. The territory ...

, he moved to

. This experience left Rimša with strong anti-Polish feelings, which were often reflected in his medals. He lived in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1920–1924, visiting Italy, Great Britain, France, and toured United States in 1935–1938. After World War II, Lithuania was turned into the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

, one of the republics of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Rimša was acceptable to Soviet authorities and he continued to create, though his works often had to reflect Soviet symbolism and ideology. In 1954, he was awarded the title of People's Artist. He died in 1961 and was buried in

Petrašiūnai Cemetery Petrašiūnai Cemetery () is Lithuania's premiere last resting place formally designated for graves of people influential in national history, politics, arts, and science. Location Petrašiūnai Cemetery is located about south-east of the cent ...

Works

Sculpture

Rimša's early works are highly patriotic and realistic. His early work ''The Lithuanian School'' (''Lietuvos mokykla'' also ''Vargo mokykla'' ("")) depicts a mother teaching her child to read in their native

Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

in between her yarn spinning. This has become a symbol of the Lithuanian resistance to the

Lithuanian press ban The Lithuanian press ban () was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet, in force from 1865 to 1904, within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania proper at the time. Lithuanian-language publications t ...

(1864–1904) and was featured on the 5 litas banknote. A large bronze copy was made in 1957 and was installed near the

Vytautas the Great War Museum The Vytautas the Great War Museum () is a museum in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was built in Art Deco and early functionalism style. Originally it was established in 1921 by Vladas Nagevičius but later it was decided to move to a larger location. A ...

. It was inspired by his personal childhood education and experiences of his book smuggler brother. ''The Ploughman'' (''Artojas'') showcases misery and oppression of the Lithuanian farmers during the times of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. It depicts a farmer with a starved horse, which uses its last strength to pull the plough. Several copies exist; one of them is held by the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

. The sculpture received Pavel Stroganov Prize in 1910. It was later expanded into a sculptural trilogy with ''Enough of That Yoke'' (''Gana to jungo'', 1909), which showed rearing horse in an act of resistance, and ''Final'' (''Finalas'', 1910), which depicted a fallen horse. The two works were not well received and it seems that Rimša himself was not satisfied with them. While in

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

, Rimša created ''In Torment'' (''Skausmas'') in 1916. This work, inspired by the hardships of World War I, depicts a suffering woman dressed in complex ornamented clothes. It is a stark departure from his earlier realistic works as it is symbolic, stylized, and heavily decorated with fine detail. It exhibits features of decorative design borrowed from graphic arts and ornamentation from traditional Lithuanian art. The overly complex and decorated style distracts the viewer from the intended message of pain and grief. This new style was later used for ''The Thinker'' (''Satyras'' or ''Mąstytojas'', 1921), ''Night and Day'' (''Diena ir naktis'', 1922), ''Tale of Spring and Autumn'' (''Pavasario ir rudens pasaka'', 1922), ''The Knight'' (''Riteris'' or ''Karžygys'', 1931). These works departed from strictly patriotic themes and became more Romantic.

Medals and other

From 1923, Rimša created various medals. Most of them are patriotic, created to mark anniversaries. At least five medals were minted in 1920s that supported Lithuania in its conflict with the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

over the

. A particularly grotesque medal ''Union Desired'' (''Unijos nori'') was struck in 1925. It depicted Poland as a deranged woman devouring Lithuanian children in front of the

Vilnius Cathedral The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius, also known as Vilnius Cathedral is the main Catholic cathedral in Lithuania. It is situated in Vilnius Old Town, just off Cathedral Square. Dedicated to the Christian saints ...

. Other medals commemorated

Great Seimas of Vilnius The Great Seimas of Vilnius (, also known as the ''Great Assembly of Vilnius'', the ''Grand Diet of Vilnius'', or the ''Great Diet of Vilnius'') was a major assembly held on December 4 and 5, 1905 (November 21–22, 1905 Old Style and New Style d ...

of 1905,

Klaipėda Revolt The Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory or ). The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from East Prussia, German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a ...

of 1923, establishment of the ecclesiastical province of Lithuania in 1926, 500th death anniversary of Grand Duke

Vytautas Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...

in 1930. After World War II, Rimša created medals incorporating required attributes of Soviet propaganda. However, 1947 medal for

Martynas Mažvydas Martynas Mažvydas (1510 – 21 May 1563) was a Protestant author who edited the first printed book in the Lithuanian language. Variants of his name include Martinus Masvidius, Martinus Maszwidas, M. Mossuids Waytkūnas, Mastwidas, Mažvyda ...

and the first printed Lithuanian book display lyrics from the banned national anthem ''

Tautiška giesmė "" (; 'National Song') or "" ('Anthem of Lithuania'), also known by its incipit "" ('Lithuania, Our Homeland'), is the national anthem of Lithuania. The music and lyrics were written in 1898 by Vincas Kudirka, when Lithuania was still part of th ...

''. His last medal, created in 1959, was a self-portrait (obverse) with an exhibition of his works, including ''The Lithuanian School'' and ''The Ploughman'' (reverse). Rimša also created portraits ( busts and

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s) of Motiejus Valančius (1904), Jonas Basanavičius (1906), his mother (1910), diplomat Tomas Naruševičius (1924),

Žemaitė Žemaitė (, , "Samogitian woman") was the pen name of Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė ( – 7 December 1921). She was a Lithuanian/Samogitian writer, democrat and educator. Born to impoverished gentry, she became one of the major partici ...

(1926), and numerous others. He illustrated books by

Vydūnas Wilhelm Storost, artistic name Vilius Storostas-Vydūnas (22 March 1868 – 20 February 1953), mostly known as Vydūnas, was a Prussian-Lithuanian teacher, poet, humanist, philosopher and Lithuanian writer, a leader of the Prussian Lithuani ...

(1912–1913) and Pranas Mašiotas (1920 and 1922).

References

External links

Photo of ''In Torment'' (''Skausmas'') of 1916

Photos of 18 medals by Rimša

The medals of Petras Rimsa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimsa, Petras 1881 births 1961 deaths Lithuanian sculptors 20th-century sculptors Burials at Petrašiūnai Cemetery