Lithuanian Art Society

The society continued to organize annual exhibitions that displayed works both by professional and folk artists.

The society was also instrumental in preserving the art of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis and organized his first solo exhibitions in 1911 and 1913.

The idea to establish an organization that would unite the dispersed Lithuanian artists, support them financially, and promote their work was first raised by sculptor Petras Rimša in the daily Vilniaus žinios on 6 April 1906.

[5] The collected exhibits were selected and organized by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, Petras Rimša.

[9] The ceremony included a speech by Basanavičius and performances by Kanklės of Vilnius choir directed by Juozas Tallat-Kelpša.

[2] Two days after the opening, Basanavičius withdrew from the organizational committee as he disagreed with the decision to invite Bishop von der Ropp.

[10] Professional artists included Čiurlionis (who publicly exhibited his works for the first time), Žmuidzinavičius, Rimša, Petras Kalpokas, Juozas Zikaras, Kazimierz Stabrowski, Antanas Jaroševičius, Władysław Leszczyński.

[11] b Numbers inaccurate as not all artists were known or were listed under collector's name[14] Encouraged by the success of the first exhibition, the organizers established the Lithuanian Art Society.

[10] It was attended by 15 people who elected the first five-member board: chairman Žmuidzinavičius, secretary Jonas Vileišis, treasurer Sofija Gimbutaitė (Zofia Gimbutt), members Čiurlionis and Rimša.

[18] The exhibitions were subject to Tsarist censorship and in a couple instances, paintings were removed by policemen or the society was not allowed to sell postcards with reproductions.

[19] The annual exhibitions consistently featured numerous works by Lithuanian folk artists, but most of the attention was paid to textiles (sashes, aprons, towels, etc.)

[22] The society was also invited to participate at the planned Russian handcraft exhibition at the Wertheim store in Berlin in January 1914.

[24] It was also an important development in changing attitudes about these folk architectural elements – the Catholic clergy considered them of low artistic value and rejected them due to remnants of pagan Lithuanian symbols.

[27] The society organized his posthumous solo exhibition which displayed 265 of his works in Vilnius, Saint Petersburg, and Moscow.

[30] It also organized exhibitions that attempted to branch out to new areas – children's art, posters, modernist porcelain.