Lithuanian artist, painter, son of the famous painter Kanutas Ruseckas.
Boleslovas Mykolas Ruseckas was born on 29 September 1824. In 1831, Kanutas Ruseckas and his family returned from Rome to Vilnius. 1834-1860 m. Kanutas Ruseckas worked as a drawing teacher at the Vilnius Institute of Nobility. When Boleslovas grew up, he studied art at his father's house, then at the aforementioned Institute of the Nobility, and later enrolled at the University of St. Petersburg to study medicine. From 1843 to 1850, Boleslovas Ruseckas studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg under the artists Karl Briulov and Fyodor Brunis. In 1850 Boleslav Ruseckas was awarded the title of free artist for his portrait of nature. In 1854, Bolesław Ruseckas married Stefania Karpavičienė in the Zabluduvo church (Bialystok County) and settled in the estate of his wife's parents, Stanislaw and Karolina Sidarovičiūtė Karpavičienė in Bialystok. Kanutas Ruseckas also stayed at the manor in the summer of 1854. However, in 1854 Bolesław not only stayed in Bialystok, but also travelled around Europe with his wife, visiting Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and living and studying in Rome for a longer period. In 1857 he went to Cracow. In 1853 Boleslovas Ruseckas was awarded the title of academician.
On his return, Boleslovas Ruseckas lived and worked in Vilnius, teaching drawing at the Vilnius Gymnasium. In 1887, he bought a house in St. He acquired a house in Kernavėnai, 11 Jono Street, Vilnius. He had a workshop on Pilies Street. In 1880, he contributed to the restoration of the tomb of Eusebius, the father of the poet Julius Slovackius, in the Rasi Cemetery in Vilnius. From 1897 he was the chairman of the committee for the construction of the monument to Adam Mickiewicz, in 1902 he was elected the chairman of the Temporary Vilnius St.
Boleslovas Ruseckas collected works of art, archaeological finds, and materials for the history of Vilnius art. He bequeathed his library, archive, collected works of art and donated 10 thousand roubles for the construction of the Society's house in Vilnius. A part of his legacy is preserved in the Lithuanian Art Museum.
The painter Boleslovas Ruseckas died on 31 January 1913 in Vilnius, leaving a very valuable creative legacy, both his own and that of his father Kanutas. He is buried in the Bernardinai Cemetery next to his parents, brothers, sister and wife Stefania. Judging by the inscription on the tombstone, the monument was erected by a distant relative, Algirdas Kucharski (Olgierd Kucharski), who claimed to be his "grandson" (B. Ruseckas had no children or grandchildren). After his death, the Ruseckas dynasty of painters came to an end.
Creativity
Boleslovas Ruseckas painted portraits, landscapes, domestic and religious compositions in oil, watercolour, and pastel. His works are realistic, often turning into naturalism. Known from the works (in the collections of the Lithuanian Art Museum): "Vilnius, Bernardine Cemetery", "Self-Portrait" (1852), "Portrait of Wife" (1850), "Portrait of Wife in Church", "Nude of Husband", "Artist's Wife Going to Church", "Portrait Study of the Artist's Wife", "Portrait of the Artist's Wife", "Portrait Study of Woman in Portrait of the Artist's Wife for the painting "The Presentation of the Christ", "Woman in a Green Dress", "Portrait of an Old Woman", "Woman in a Monastery Cell", "Study of an Old Man's Head", "Portrait of Kanutas Ruseckas (father)", "Portrait of Three Girls", "Woman with a Fan" (1840), landscapes - "The Homestead of a Peasant in Pavieniškis Village, Dysna County" (1873), "Totoriškės Manor" (1874), etc. He created religious paintings for the Church of St. Casimir in Grodno and Vilnius Cathedral.