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HISTORYOFARTHISTORY
INCENTRAL,EASTERNANDSOUTH-EASTERNEUROPE
OdetaŽukauskienė
LithuanianCultureResearchInstituteinVilnius
JurgisBaltrużaitis:cross-culturalbiography
andcross-culturalarthistory
JurgisBaltrużaitisisthemostprominentarthisto-
rianofLithuanianoriginandoneoftheleading
figuresofthecomparativestudiesofart.Hisintel-
lectualbiographyandcontributiontoarthistory
hasbeenexaminedinthemonographsbyJean-
FrançoisChevrier1,MaddalenaMazzocut-Mis2and
bytheauthorofthisarticle3.Thisstudyconsiders
therelationshipbetweenBaltrużaitis’cross-cul-
turalbiographyandhiscross-culturalapproachto
thehistoryofart.Theessayfocusesonaseriesof
biographicaldetailsthatplayedanimportantpart
inBaltrużaitis’life:fosteredtrans-culturalunder-
standing,cross-culturalcomparisons,andthestud-
iesofinter-culturalimaginaries.Thearticleisan
attempttoreconstructhisbiography,drawingon
awiderangeofsourcesfromhisownarchive4,in
afieldofhistoriography.
Inrecentdecades,thefragmentedEuropean
memorygraduallyconvergesintoacontinuousland-
scapeandchangesourapproachtothepast.Great
biographiesofscholarswhopreferredexileconnect
thememoriesofEasternandWesternEuropeand
promotetoreconsiderhistoriography.“Double”bi-
1Chevrier(1989).
2Mazzocut-Mis(1999).
3Žukauskienė(2006).
4IthankJeanBaltrużaitisforopeningtheprivatearchyve
ofJurgisBaltrużaitistome.
ographyofJurgisBaltrużaitis(1903-1988)isone
ofthestronglinksbetweenEasternandWestern
culturalhistories,whilethecomparativearthistory
createdbyhimisaperfectexampleofthestudyof
cross-culturaldialoguesintheworldofart,wor-
thyofthere-actualizationinanincreasinglyglobal
world.Hislifeexperiencesaccumulatedindifferent
culturalmilieuhavehadaprofoundinfluenceon
theverycomparativenatureofhisapproach,which
significantlycontributedtothedevelopmentofart
history.Infact,Baltrużaitis’scientificbiographyin
somewaysresemblesthoseofoutstandingarthis-
toriansandPolishimmigrants-LouisGrodecki
andCharlesSterling-whomovedtoFranceand
alsoincorporatedtheintellectualtraditionofHenri
Focillon.
Afewbackgroundbiographicaldetailsmaybe
usefultobetterunderstandBaltrużaitis’attitudes
towardsthehistoryofart.JurgisBaltrużaitiswas
bornin1903inMoscowinthefamilyofafuture
LithuaniandiplomatandpoetJurgisBaltrużaitis.
HismotherMariaOlovianichnikoffwasfromthe
wellknownRussianfamilyofindustrialentrepre-
neursandartpatrons.Father’sfriends,outstand-
ingRussianavant-gardeartists,createdanartistic
environment,whichfosteredhissensibilityinart.
BorisPasternakandAlexanderScriabinwerehis
firsttutors.AfterhegraduatedfromtheGerman
