Jonas Rimša | Winter in Bariloche, 1954 | Oil on canvas, 60x69 (72x83.5)

Sign.: AK J.Rimša

Museum authorship. Works of Jonas Rimša are held in LNDM, NČDM, and Tartle.

San Carlos de Bariloche (Patagonia), with its lakes and snowy mountains, is often called the "Switzerland of the Americas." For Rimša, it was the only place in exile where he could physically experience the winter he so dearly cherished from his youth in Lithuania.

This landscape is a poignant testament to Jonas Rimša’s "Lithuanian period" in Argentina, created during the artist's annual journeys to the resort of Bariloche in search of snow and imagery reminiscent of his homeland. The work is dominated by a cool contrast between the bluish-white snow and the dark trunks of trees, masterfully capturing the serenity of winter and the biting frost. Although the landscape depicts the foothills of the Andes, its mood and palette directly resonate with the artist's nostalgia for Lithuania, transforming an alien scenery into something intimate and recognizable. Bold, expressive brushstrokes breathe life into the natural vista, while the snowdrifts are painted with exceptional textural sensitivity. This piece is a meditation on inner peace and a spiritual return to the motherland through the perception of nature, even while thousands of miles away.