INFLUENCE OF JAPONISME, AND MUSICAL ELEMENTS IN THE SERIES OF PAINTINGS SONATA OF THE SPRING BY M. K. ČIURLIONIS

The influence of Japonisme on the paintings of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875– 1911), his contemporaries, and European Impressionist painters has been briefly researched since 2011 and has been mentioned frequently in articles by the present author. This article first reconsiders the influence of Japonisme on a series of paintings by Čiurlionis, Sonata of the Spring, which apparently derive from the Japanese ukiyo-e, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, Japanese original paintings in the Feliks Jasieński collection, which Čiurlionis most likely saw during his stay in Poland. Next, since these paintings “Allegro”, “Andante”, “Scherzo”, and “Finale” have musical titles, the article considers why he decided to give musical titles to his paintings, and the relationship between those titles and the compo- sition of the paintings as well as the musical elements found in them.