Today, these donations constitute the oldest and most valuable core of the collections of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. The exhibition explored the formation of the museum’s holdings through gifts from private individuals. Published to accompany the exhibition, the catalogue offered an opportunity to revisit, reassess, and contextualize the activities of early twentieth-century collectors and donors. This English-language edition includes a foreword by Dr. Arūnas Gelūnas, Director General of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. A substantial art-historical essay by the exhibition’s curator, Dr. Laima Laučkaitė, reconstructs the phenomenon of artistic patronage and donation that flourished at the beginning of the twentieth century, examining its motivations, ambitions, and its role in the formation of the nation’s artistic heritage. The publication also introduces the activities of two key museum societies. In 1907, patriotic public figures and philanthropists established the Vilnius Science and Art Museum Society (Towarzystwo Muzeum Nauki i Sztuki w Wilnie) and the Vilnius Friends of Science Society (Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk w Wilnie). Within a short period, members of these societies – primarily landowners and intellectuals – assembled extensive collections, including libraries, archival materials, and objects related to history, archaeology, natural sciences, and culture, with works of art occupying a significant place among them. These collections form the basis of both the exhibition and the catalogue. Due to spatial constraints, the exhibition focused on the holdings of the principal donors and was structured into four sections: The Collection of Władysław Tyszkiewicz, The Collection of Kanuty and Bolesław Rusiecki, The Legacy of the Fiorentini Dynasty, and The Contribution of Anton Kołb-Sielecki. These sections are further elaborated in the catalogue, which presents both the biographies of the donors and collectors and the histories of their collecting practices. The catalogue’s album section provides a more comprehensive inventory of donors and their gifts than could be included in the exhibition itself. It also features a list of donations recorded in archival sources but not yet identified within the holdings of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. Although the surviving lists of donors – preserved in Lithuanian and Polish archives – are often fragmentary, inconsistently compiled, and sometimes raise questions of attribution, and although extended object labels may contain inaccuracies, both the exhibition and the catalogue represent an important point of departure. Together, they initiate further research and open new avenues for reconstructing the largely forgotten history of early twentieth-century museum patronage and donation.

Exhibition Catalogue

Editor and Text Author Laima Laučkaitė

Catalogue Compiler Rima Rutkauskienė

Reviewers: Helmutas Šabasevičius, Aušrinė Cemnolonskė

Translator and Copy Editor Aušra Simanavičiūtė

Designer Loreta Uzdraitė

Photographers: Antanas Lukšėnas, Paulius Makauskas

Digitization Specialists: Irena Aleksienė, Vaidotas Aukštaitis, Mindaugas Česlikauskas

Published by the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, 2026

Printed by UAB Petro ofsetas

280 p.

20×26 cm

Print run 500

ISBN 978-609-426-220-3