In the Beginning Was the Line. The Lithuanian National Museum of Art Collections: Drawings from the 18th to the 21st Century. Educational Programme
23 June, 2026 – 10 January, 2027
The line was humanity’s first gesture in the attempt to comprehend and shape the world. Drawing became a link between gaze, thought, and the movement of the hand. This exhibition traces its journey: from academic discipline to free, conceptual thinking; from careful observation to the expression of inner impulse.
Eight rooms present a concise overview of the Lithuanian tradition of drawing and its transformation over time. The exhibition opens with examples of academic drawing from the art departments of Vilnius University. It then moves through the Vilnius Drawing School and the interwar modernist period, continuing into the late 20th century and the work of contemporary artists. Five thematic sections — “Patience and Impulse”, “Discoveries in Everyday Life”, “Strokes of Personality”, “Contours of Ideas”, and “Undrawn Boundaries” — not only survey the history of drawing, but also reassert its relevance and reveal the full breadth of its possibilities.
The exhibition invites visitors to consider drawing as a universal form of artistic expression and as the outcome of a living creative process.
EVENTS
Public Lectures
14 July, 5:30 p.m.
“Constructing Everyday Life in 19th-Century Lithuanian Drawings”
Dr Aušrinė Cemnolonskė
1 December, 5:30 p.m.
“A (Not Quite) Forgotten Draughtsman: The Work of Artur Bartels (1818–1885) in the Collections of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art”
Dr Joana Vitkutė
15 December, 5:30 p.m.
“Between the Margins of Art and the Search for a Contemporary Language: The Paradoxes of Drawing Today”
Deima Žuklytė-Gasperaitienė
Discussion
22 September, 5:30 p.m.
Discussion “Drawing and Its Significance for Artists Today”
Participants: Jūratė Stauskaitė, Žygimantas Augustinas, Paulius Juška
Moderated by Algirdas Gataveckas and Remigijus Gataveckas
GUIDED TOURS
Guided Tours with Curators*
17 November, 5:30 p.m.
7 January, 5:30 p.m.
Sunday Guided Tours with Museum Guide* **
20 September, 1:00 p.m.
22 November, 1:00 p.m.
6 December, 1:00 p.m.
Registration for tours with exhibition curators and Sunday tours with museum guides opens one week before the event.
* Participation in the tour requires purchase of a museum visitor ticket.
** Tours with museum guides can also be booked individually by prior arrangement at gidai.vpg@lndm.lt or telephone +370 681 90 329.
PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
12 September, 1:00 p.m.
Educational Workshop “Homonyms: A Work Based on the Gataveckai Brothers’ Creative Practice”
17 October, 1:00 p.m.
Educational Workshop “Grid Drawing”
21 November, 1:00 p.m.
Educational Workshop “5 Minutes”
12 December, 1:00 p.m.
Educational Workshop “In the Beginning Was the Line”
EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
“Homonyms: A Work Based on the Gataveckai Brothers’ Creative Practice”
This is a live drawing performance. Artists Algirdas and Remigijus Gataveckai create one-off collaborative drawings together with exhibition visitors. Each artist works individually with one visitor, so two independent drawing processes unfold simultaneously. Sheets of A2 paper, fixed to polystyrene boards, are turned to face the visitors. A participant approaches, takes a marker, closes their eyes, and begins to draw a portrait; the artist, also with eyes closed, draws on the other side of the same sheet, responding to the pressure of the participant’s marker, its direction, and the intensity of its movement. The drawing is made in a single unbroken line, guided not by sight but by sensation, trust, and mutual connection. In this process, the image emerges not from the will of a single author but from shared action, sensory response, and dialogic exchange. With their eyes closed, the artists relinquish their usual control over the image, and the work takes shape through touch, attentiveness, movement, and response to the other. The line becomes a measure of shared time: as long as it continues, so does the connection; when it ends, the action concludes. Each completed work is a unique trace of a particular encounter. The finished piece is signed by both the artist and the participant, affirming their shared authorship and the act of co-creation. The original work remains with the participant. In this way, the piece becomes not only a portrait but a material testament to an encounter, a record of time shared, trust extended, and shared presence.
Duration: approximately 1–1.5 hours. Suitable for schoolchildren, adults, and senior visitors.
“Grid Drawing”
Grid copying is one of the oldest techniques for reproducing images. During this workshop, participants will visit the exhibition, explore the similarities and differences between the works on display, and try the grid method for themselves.
Duration: 45–60 minutes. Suitable for pupils in grades 6–12, adults, and families.
“5 Minutes”
Can a person be drawn in five minutes? Yes, it can be done. This workshop introduces a method used in art academies, in which participants draw one another within a set time. With only five minutes available, participants practise observation, selection of the most essential details, and rapid conveyance of the sitter’s character. When the time is up, participants swap places and repeat the exercise four times in total. Drawing becomes a game with time, attentiveness, and creativity.
Duration: 45–60 minutes. Suitable for pupils in grades 1–12, adults, and families.
“In the Beginning Was the Line”
Have you ever tried to draw without being able to erase a single line? This educational workshop introduces the fundamentals of drawing and explores several techniques that have been used throughout the history of art and continue to be practised today. Drawing on established drawing traditions, participants investigate how form, light, shadow, and space emerge from the simplest of marks. Through practical exercises, they learn to control the line, develop tone, and convey volume.
Duration: 90 minutes. Suitable for older pupils, adults, and senior visitors.
To register for educational workshops, call +370 682 45 314 or email at augustina.ivanauskaite@lndm.lt
Educational workshops can also be booked through the Culture Pass system.
Exhibition organiser LNDM Vilniaus paveikslų galerija
Curators: Rasa Adomaitienė, Regina Urbonienė
Coordinators: Aistė Bimbirytė, Gabija Kasparavičiutė-Kaminskienė, Joana Vitkutė
Architects RESH
Graphic designer Edita Namajūnienė
Designer Vadim Šamkov
Editor Ilona Čiužauskaitė
Translator Raminta Bumbulytė
Conservators The Paper Conservation Department of the Pranas Gudynas Restoration Centre
Educators: Augustina Ivanauskaitė, Jolanta Sereikaitė
Tour Guides: Dalia Kaladinskienė, Akvilė Murauskaitė
Partners Algirdas ir Remigijus Gataveckai
Media sponsors: JCDecaux Lietuva, Delfi
4 Didžioji st, Vilnius, Lithuania
+370 5 261 1685
vpg@lndm.lt
