Vilniaus Academy of Arts

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open:
III-IV 12-18 h
VI 12-16 h

The gallery of Anastazija and Antanas Tamošaitis preserves pieces of Lithuanian art dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection contains Lithuanian folk costumes, sashes, articles of clothing, as well aw, tapestries, gobelins, paintings and graphic art works designed by Anastazija and Antanas Tamošaitis. The gallery has a valuable library of over 2000 books on art.

The main purpose of the Tamošaitis gallery is to foster national, cultural, and educational activity. Here, visitors have a chance to see the old Lithuanian costumes and wall-hangings and to familiarize themselves with how they were made. They can see the art of Antanas and Anastazija, as, well as, national features so well preserved by Lithuanian emigrants.

The gallery was established by Antanas Tamošaitis, the patriarch of Lithuanian textiles and an avid collector and promoter of folk art. Antanas began entertaining the idea of such a cultural center in Lithuania, while still living in Canada. When he finally returned to his homeland, Lithuania, he decided to donate the folk art pieces, which he had collected in Lithuania over the peroid 1930 – 1940. Along with his own works, the collection included art works by his wife Aanastazija Tamošaitienė, as well as, a very valuable library collection. The gallery is now owned by the Vilnius Academy of Art, where Tamošaitis lectured from 1940 – 1942 and which in 1995 bestowed on him the title of Honorary Profesor.
The main purpose of the Tamošaitis Gallery is to foster national, cultural, and educational activity. Here, visitors have a chance to see the old Lithuanian costumes and wall-hangings and to familiarize themselves with how they were made. They can see the art of Antanas and Anastazija, as well as, national features so well preserved by Lithuanian emigrants.

Anastazija Mažeikaitė-Tamošaitienė was born on the 9th of September, 1910 in the town of Vainutas (previously part of the Tauragė region and now part of the Šilutė district), Lithuania. She studied at the Women’s Fine Arts School in Kaunas (1928-1931) and in the 1937 spent some time in Sweden perfecting her textile art. Placed in charge of the weaving and knitting course at the Chamber of Agriculture (1932-1934), she later worked as a weaving instructor in the Chamber’s Domestic Industry Division (1934-1937). In the 1935 she, along with Antanas Tamošaitis, set up a weaving atelier in Ąžuolų Būda; and, from 1939-1940, she headed the Vilnius branch of the “Marginiai” partnership. Later, 1940-1942 she worked as an instructor at the Decorative Art Studio of Kaunas’ Applied Art Institute. After World War II, she taught at the private Tamosaitis’ Art Studio in Glasenbach, Austria (1945-1945) and at the École des Arts et Métiers in Freiburg (1946-1948). Upon her arrival in Canada in 1948, she founded the Weaving and National costume studio at Montreal’s International YMCA. In 1977 she founded the Lithuanian Folk Art Institute. Anastazija Mažeikaitė-Tamošaitienė has woven many tapestries, knotted pile carpets, decorative wall-hangings in national patterns, and has also produced numerous oil paintings and graphic art works. Her publications included Knitting (1935), Home Woven Clothing (1937), Girls’ Handiworks (1937), and Our Handicrafts (1939). She collaborated with her husband Antanas in preparing Lithuanian National Costume (1979) and Lithuanian Sashes (1988).
Anastazija Mažeikaitė-Tamošaitienė died on August 28, 1991. She has found her final resting place in Antakalnis Cemetery in Vilnius.

Antanas Tamošaitis was born on February 18, 1906, in the village of Barzdai in the district of Šakiai. He studied at the Kaunas School of Arts (1923-1928), concentrating on graphics. He spent many years teaching and lecturing in Kaunas (1929-1933), at the Dotnuva Academy of Agriculture (1931-40), and at the first State School of Handicrafts in Kaunas (1936-1939). During the period 1931-1940, he taught weaving and headed the Domestic Industry Section on the Chamber of Agriculture. As of 1926, Antanas Tamošaitis was leading expeditions to collect Lithuanian folk art artifacts, while at the same time leading a rich and rewarding academic career. He was a lecturer and the Head of the Department of Pedagogy at the Vilnius Academy of Art (1940-1942). He was the Head of the Decorative Arts Studio of Kaunas’ Applied Arts Institute (1942-1944). Later he was an instructor at his Tamošaitis Art Studio in Glasenbach, Austria (1945-1946) and headed the decorative Weaving Section at the École des Arts et Métiers in Freiburg, Germany (1946-1948). Upon his arrival in Montreal in 1949, he founded the Arts and Crafts Academy at the International YMCA Center.
Antanas Tamošaitis has woven tapestries, created paintings and graphic art works. He compiled and edited Sodžiaus menas (Village Art, books 1-8, 19314-1939). Other publications include Weaving (1933), Woven Carpets (1935), Tablecloths (1935), National Costumes and Patterns of Sashes (1968). He also published in English Lithuanian Easter Eggs (1982), and jointly with his wife Anastazija, Lithuanian National Costume (1979) and Lithuanian Sashes (1988).
In 2003 Antanas Tamošaitis returned to take up permanent residence in Lithuania. In 2003 he was awarded the Officer’s Cross of Vytautas the Great for his many contributions to the culture of Lithuania.