Ferdinando Ruščico politiniai meninės veiklos aspektai: 1908-1920 metai
Political aspects of Ferdynand Rusczyc's artistic activity: 1908 through 1920

Summary/Abstract: The artist Ferdynand Ruszczyc's activities related to the political life in Vilnius from 1908 to 1922 are discussed. Attention is drawn to the issue of noblemen's national identity as a context for Ruszczyc's civic activities. The ties of the artist with the Vilnius atmosphere charged with Krajowcy ideas and political aspects of his artistic activities after World War I are examined. The topics presented in the paper (national identity of noblemen and the dispute over the Vilnius region) have already been discussed in historical works, but the political aspects of the work of Ruszczyc and other artists remain an under-researched area in art history. The article presents some facts to show Ruszczyc's support of Krajowcy's ideas: the publication of the Tygodnik Wileński magazine (1910-1911), Michal Römer's and his initiative Village of 1911 (though unrealized), and the exhibition of folk art and handicrafts held in 1913 in Vilnius. It is noted that political themes in Ruszczyc's art appeared in 1919, though his works of the period presented interpretations of historical events rather than conveyed the ideology of Józef Piłsudski; their political content was reflected in the symbolic rather than representational dimension. Later, following the establishment of the so-called Central Lithuania (Litwa środkawa) by the Poles, Ruszczyc's creative work assumed a different character – the representational function became more evident, expressing his loyalty to the new Polish state.

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