Branch "Vankovich House" presents a lithography of a self-portrait of Valentin Vankovich

Color lithography of the self-portrait of artist Valentin Vankovich was presented on July 31. It was provided to the Belarusian National Museum of Art by a private collector, thanks to which visitors of the Vankovich House will be able to get acquainted with an amazing graphic sheet made from the original 1840 by an unknown lithographer.

The mystery of the self-portrait is that the authorship of the replica has not been established. A feature of lithography is that this is not an ordinary copying of an image, but the art of conveying the complete impression of the picture to the smallest detail, the slightest change in hue. Each print made using lithographic stone has its own artistic value and can be considered an original. Typically, each sheet of lithography receives the number and signature of the lithograph, but this self-portrait could not be identified.

Therefore, visitors to the exhibition are confronted with a real mystery: “Perhaps the artist himself made this lithography?” After all, it is known that even when he was a student, Valentin Vankovich was fascinated by this extraordinary technique of recreating works of art in an amount acceptable to a lithographer. Moreover, the interest was so deep that he attended the courses of the engraver Goglib Kiesling at the University of Vilnius and with pleasure replicated the successfully obtained works of art (both his own and others). Everyone will be able to get acquainted with this amazing graphic work until September 30.

Eve Istr