Exhibition "Antanas Žmuidzinavičius (1876–1966). Retrospective", June 11, 2021 - September 26

Exhibition "Antanas Žmuidzinavičius (1876–1966). Retrospective", dedicated to the artist's 145th birth anniversary.

Antanas Žmuidzinavičius (1876–1966) is one of the most famous Lithuanian landscape painters. The artist's work is undoubtedly attributed to the Lithuanian Art Gold Fund. Many prominent pages in the history of Lithuanian art are associated with this name.

A. Žmuidzinavičius is an artist, public figure, educator, and a person who lived in a period of radical changes in the history of Lithuania. He is the organizer of the first Lithuanian art exhibition, the long-time chairman of the Lithuanian Art Society, a shooter, the head of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, a scout, and a traveler.

Painting occupied a special place in the life of A. Žmuidzinavičius. From the creation of the first student works in 1896 to the honorable ninety-year anniversary, a legacy of more than two thousand works was accumulated: painting, graphics, watercolor, drawings, sketches, etudes. Love for nature and sensitivity to the environment determined the path of A. Žmuidzinavičius as a representative of the realism direction. In his soul lay the need to capture images of the environment that touched the spirit. The artist wanted to admire the environment, to be a true romantic, and sometimes a sensitive symbolist, perhaps this was determined by the open Dzūkian character, or perhaps by the strong authority of the first teacher. Studies in Warsaw in the private art studio of the Polish historical artist Voiciej Gerson became fatal. Later, being in Paris, the capital of the arts, that sensual French experience, however, did not form the final decision to experiment in the newly born artistic currents.

The exhibition, commemorating the 145th anniversary of the birth of A. Žmuidzinavičius, was held in houses filled with authentic interiors and exteriors, and speaks about the artist's life and work on all floors of the museum's expositions. The exhibition presents works by the artist of various periods of all genres of painting. Several criteria were important when selecting the works: in addition to the most popular works, the aim was to show drawings of the artist of the early period, made with pencil and charcoal, which are less known to the audience or less frequently exhibited. In the last decade, a number of works by A. Žmuidzinavičius have returned to Lithuania. Art patrons and private individuals are happy to lend works not only for exhibitions, but also for permanent exhibitions.

The artist's works have been shown in a number of significant exhibitions. In 2008 they were exhibited at the National Museum of Art in Kiev in the exhibition "Čiurlionis and His Contemporaries"; 2009 Lithuanian Art Museum in the international exhibition "Longing for Nature" dedicated to the European landscape. 2018 The paintings of A. Žmuidzinavičius were exhibited at the Musée d'Orsay in an international project dedicated to the commemoration of the centenary of the Baltic States, in the exhibition "Wild Souls. The Art of Baltic Symbolism". In 2019–2021, the exhibition was also exhibited at the KUMU Art Museum in Tallinn, the National Gallery of Art in Vilnius, and the Latvian National Museum of Art in Riga. 2020 The works and works of A. Žmuidzinavičius were presented at the National Museum of Szczecin in Poland, in the international exhibition "I See Your Beauty. From Čiurlionis to Kairiūkščis. The Golden Fund of Lithuanian Art of the XX Century".

The works were loaned to the exhibition by: the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, the Lithuanian Art Knowledge Centre "Tartle", Dr. Jaunius Gumbis, UAB Bikuvos prekyba, and other private collectors. Some of the paintings are exhibited from the Žmuidzinavičius family.