Event description
"Pranas Domšaitis' travel routes stretched from the village of Kruopyniai in the former Prussia to France, Italy, the Bosphorus Strait and the Republic of South Africa, before finally reaching Klaipėda thanks to the Lithuanian Foundation. By presenting a modern, updated exhibition of the artist's works, we congratulate Klaipėda on the upcoming holidays and invite you to embark on a spectacular journey through the magical world of Pranas Domšaitis' work," says Dr. Arūnas Gelūnas, Director of the National Museum of Art.
Content brought closer to the modern visitor in the new exhibition
Visitors to the gallery of Pranos Domšaicis will have the opportunity to see about two hundred of his works: oil paintings, watercolour and pastel works, drawings, embroidered compositions, and double-sided paintings exhibited in special constructions. The renewed permanent exhibition presents the artist's work both chronologically and thematically. "The renewed permanent exhibition of the work of the artist P. Domšaitis is enriched with integrated, multimedia elements that meet the needs of visitors of all ages and experiences. The aim is to create innovative products with lasting lasting value that bring the content closer to the contemporary visitor, lead to a deeper acquaintance with the work of Pranas Domšaitis, increase the museum's attractiveness and inclusiveness, the accessibility of the museum's content, and the dissemination of the content," Skaistė Marčienė, Director of the Pranas Domšaitis Gallery, says. More than six hundred works by P. Domšaitis have been donated to Lithuania by the Lithuanian Foundation in the USA, which acquired the works from the artist's widow, Adelheid Armhold. Thanks to the efforts of this organisation and museum staff, most of the painter's artistic legacy is now preserved at the National Museum of Natural History of Lithuania. Since 2001, some of the works have been on permanent display in Klaipėda, close to the painter's birthplace. Domšaitis's creative legacy has also travelled to Lithuanian and foreign museums.
Artist who left us a magical dream world
From the small village of Kruopyny village in East Prussia (now Kaliningrad sr.., Domšaitis (1880-1965) was one of the most famous representatives of Lithuanian diaspora art. His work was influenced by the European modern art of the early 20th century and the trends that emerged in this field at that time: in Germany, alongside the popular Impressionist movement, a new movement - Expressionism - was forming and emerging. The budding artist was also influenced by his contacts with famous artists of the time. As early as 1914, Domšaitis visited the painter, graphic artist and one of the founders of Expressionism, Edvard Munch.
P. Domšaitis was famous in Germany as a creator of expressionist landscapes and biblical compositions. The cultural press of the time wrote extensively about the artist, and his works were acquired by the National Gallery in Berlin, museums in Königsberg, Lübeck, and Szczecin, as well as by collectors. Domšaitis took part in group exhibitions with the most famous German artists - Max Pechstein, Otto Dix, Ernst Kirchner, etc.
The renowned graphic artist Telesforas Valius, in his review of Domšaitis's artistic legacy, said, "The artist has bequeathed us a myth, an extraordinary, but also a magical world of dreams. "Lithuanian blood does not lie"
Internationally acclaimed P. Domšaitis. Modern art was seen by the new government as worthless. The works of modernist artists, including Domšaitis, were removed from museum exhibitions and relegated to so-called "degenerate art" (German: Entartete Kunst). These exhibited examples of "inappropriate" art.
P. "Lithuanian blood does not lie, just like my paintings. They are truly Lithuanian." As early as 1920, the artist was granted a passport of the Republic of Lithuania in Kaunas, and around 1938 he began signing his works with the Lithuanian surname "Domsaitis".
Having met expatriate Lithuanian artists in post-war Austria, he participated in international exhibitions of the work of war refugees for the first time as a Lithuanian artist. The links with the diaspora that he made there have lasted throughout his life. In 1949, Domšaitis and his wife Adelheid Armhold left for South Africa. After settling in Cape Town, Dom Domšaitis immersed himself in his work and quickly became part of the local cultural life: he held solo exhibitions, represented the country at the São Paulo Biennial, and in 1964 won the South African Artists of Fame and Promise award.
Pranas Domšaitis Gallery invites visitors to a journey
