Antanas Žmuidzinavičius (Polish: Antoni Żmujdzinowicz, 31 October 1876 – 9 August 1966) was a Lithuanian painter and art collector.

He continued to work as a teacher while studying painting at private courses of Wojciech Gerson as well as an evening art school (director Evgeny Alexandrovich Zolotarev).

[4] He also established contacts with other Lithuanian artists in Warsaw, including Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis and Petras Rimša.

[4] He also joined a small Lithuanian student group chaired by his future wife odontologist Marija Putvinskaitė.

[1] They married on 10 October 1909 in a ceremony officiated by Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas and witnessed by Jonas Basanavičius and Ona Vileišienė, wife of Petras Vileišis.

[1] In November 1906, he played the role of krivių krivaitis (chief pagan priest) Lizdeika in the first Lithuanian opera Birutė staged bye the Kanklės of Vilnius Society.

[1] In 1908, he established the Vilnius Art Society which was joined by Polish, Russian, and Jewish artists, including Marianne von Werefkin, Bolesław Bałzukiewicz [pl], Bolesław Buyko [pl], Ber Zalkind, Lev Antokolski (1872–1942), Ivan Rybakov (1870–1942).

[4] In 1917, he worked at Lietuvos aidas and helped organize Vilnius Conference (designed tickets, decorated the meeting hall, etc.).

[9] When Soviets captured Vilnius at the start of the Lithuanian–Soviet War in December 1918, Žmuidzinavičius established a commission that sought to collect and safeguard artworks in the city.

He participated in Lithuanian defence against Poland during the Żeligowski's Mutiny and was captured near Babriškis [lt] but managed to escape after three days.

[2] In July 1921, Žmuidzinavičius departed towards the United States but due to delays in getting appropriate travel documents, he reached the U.S. only in February 1922.

Žmuidzinavičius organized about 200 meetings and lectures but Lithuanian Americans showed little interest in joining the Riflemen's Union.

He stopped representing the Riflemen's Union in November 1923 but remained in the United States until mid-1924 to pursue his artistic interests.

Together with Aleksandras Račkus, he travelled across the western United States and exhibited works completed during the journey in New York.

[4] In 1929, after the death of his brother-in-law Vladas Putvinskis, he became chairman of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union as well as chief editor of its magazine Trimitas.

Žmuidzinavičius created more than 2,000 pieces of art,[4] mostly oil paintings of landscapes but also portraits of famous people, scenes of everyday life, religious imagery.

[12] His paintings usually depict idealized and stylized nature scenes that create a melancholic mood and convey a particular longing.

His paintings often depicted typical Lithuanian landscapes – shores of the Neman River, amber dunes of the Baltic Sea, hills of Samogitia, forests of Dzūkija, lakes of Aukštaitija, grain fields, or cozy and intimate corners of nature (e.g. lonely trees).

[17] It is a well-known painting that is frequently added to various albums of Lithuanian art and was originally acquired by Pranas Mašiotas in 1910.

[19] However, the delegates found such flag too dark and gloomy and Tadas Daugirdas proposed adding a yellow strip.

The Council of Lithuania created a special three-member (Žmuidzinavičius, Daugirdas, and Jonas Basanavičius) commission to come up with the final flag design which was submitted on 19 April 1918.

His version was based on the work of Tadeusz Dmochowski [ru] and depicted the knight diagonally giving the impression that it is flying.

He created drafts of the new banknotes (called muštinis) and travelled to Sweden to negotiate the printing, but the plans were abandoned.

[19] In addition, Žmuidzinavičius created 32 postage stamps[4] and designed the first hats and badges for the Lithuanian Army.

[24] The memorial museum displays authentic interwar décor, Žmuidzinavičius' paintings and collections, and various archival items.

[26] The collection steadily grew due to international donations and was moved to a newly constructed three-floor annexe in 1982.

[29] The house where Žmuidzinavičius was born in Seirijai was demolished in 1938 but its location is marked by a 1.3-metre (4 ft 3 in) tall memorial stone erected in 1976.

The house, built by Graf Feliks Tyszkiewicz [lt], was added to the Lithuanian Registry of Cultural Heritage in 1993.