On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his birth, the Vilnius Picture Gallery presents a retrospective of the life and work of the talented, multifaceted and undeservedly forgotten Bolesław Rusiecki (1824-1913), who is now spread over eight exhibition halls. The visitor is introduced to the artist's personality, the beginning of his creative path, his studies in St. Petersburg, the Italian period, his search for artistic solutions and results, his social, living and creative space, his rich collection of paintings and his commemorative stamps. Ruseckas saw inspiration, beauty, which, in the artist's words, "one would like to devour with one's eyes", everywhere - in the face of his beloved, in the figures of Italian peasants, in the courtyards of Vilnius, and in the foliage of an old wood. He lived in art. Even when he closed the studio door, he was immersed in the history of art, especially admiring the old Italian masters and the Nazarenes, and was considered by his contemporaries to be the best expert of the Vilnius School of Art, and was known as "Professor". He collected knowledge not only about his favourite authors, but also about the works themselves and their photographs. However, looking at the artist's creative legacy, letters, and signs of everyday life, one can see a tension that was apparently impossible to avoid. Raised from an early age by his loving father, Kanuty Rusiecki (1800-1860), one of the most famous Lithuanian painters of the nineteenth century, Boleslovas struggled to emerge from the shadow of authority. On the other hand, once he broke away from the strict rules into which he often trapped himself, he unleashed his creative impulse and took great pleasure in creating landscapes or small-format portraits, light, lively sketches.