Religinė XX a. II pusės - XXI a. lietuvių liaudies tapyba: tradicijos tęstinumo problema ; The second half of the 20th century– 21st century religious Lithuanian folk art: the problem of continuity of tradition
Lithuanian folk paintings periods during their existence from 17th to 19th and from the second half of the 20th to 21st centuries were isolated and no one has ever tried to compare them. 17th – 19th centuries Lithuanian folk painting defines the phenomenon of everyday life and religion. Both these areas of peasant life, were connected. What is more, it means that they used to influence each other. Holy image was interpreted not only as an aesthetic-based religious object, but also as a liaison between the material and the spiritual world. Periphery church interior used to be decorated with folk art paintings of instructed unprofessional artists, who have had reiterated church paintings. These images became the basis of self-taught artists works Both instructed unprofesionals and self-taught masters painted in strict accordance with the rules of Christian iconography: the saints were recognizable from their characteristic attributes. There were no space for artists imagination. In the beggining of the 20th century folk painting tradition disappeared because of industrial prints. They were "beautiful" and cheep. Folk painting returned in the second half of 20th century. Because of the political situation (the second Soviet occupation of Lithuania had lasted from 1944 to 1990) in the public domain folk paintings have evolved only in conformistic genres: landscape, portrait, genre paintings, or ideological images. Sacral folk painting mostly unfolded in a private space, so they are some kind of secret for the folk art historians. However, it was a living phenomenon which, possibly, was a serious threat to the Soviet system. After the restoration of the Independence religious folk painting scenes return slowly. Moreover, there are no so much folk painters who would normaly depict these themes. Compare to the traditional folk paintings, contemporary folk painting is much more altered. In many cases, created images and scenes were based on a traditional Christian iconography, or the Bible, but there are several exceptions when a religious scene or a saint through the prism of folk artists imagination is depicted in a new way, folk artist creates "new" attributes or compositions. To begin with 20th century second half and the 21st century sacred folk painting acquires the contours of a new phenomenon, as many old specific religious folk painting features arising from the relationship between spirituality and art concepts can't be restored.