Richard Pfeiffer (1878–1962) – Painter of Sacred Spaces
19 March – 20 September, 2026
Richard Pfeiffer (b. Breslau, present-day Wrocław) is a representative of the Jugendstil (Secession) movement and symbolic painting that flourished in around the turn of the 20th century. He created frescoes and large painting cycles on the themes of mythology, idealism and the Christian faith. He experimented in various fields, such as mural and easel painting and magazine illustration.
Pfeiffer was closely involved in early 20th-century reform movements, and considered himself a strict vegetarian. In addition to his art-related activities, he also wrote philosophical texts and prepared several unique, comprehensive and somewhat atypical iconographic programmes for large-scale mural projects. This can especially be said about the painting done at the Šilutė church in around 1925–1926.
In 1910–1932 Pfeiffer served as professor at the Kunstakademie Königsberg. Alexander Kolde, Eduard Bischoff and Karl Eulenstein were among his students.
Most of the artist’s creative legacy was destroyed during bombing in 1943. Some of his earlier works and others created after 1945 have been preserved. In terms of his mural work, only the painting inside the Šilutė Evangelical Lutheran Church exists to this day.
Organisers: Pranas Domšaitis Gallery, East Prussian Regional Museum (Germany)
Partner Scheu Hugo Museum in Šilutė
Curators: Dr Jörn Barfod, Jan Rüttinger
Coordinator Aurelija Malinauskaitė
Designer Edita Namajūnienė
Editor Dr Ilona Čiužauskaitė
Translators: Albina Strunga (English), Regina Makauskienė (German)
- Purchase an e-ticket for this exhibition
- Book a guided tour of this exhibition by phone +370 46 410 421, email domsaicio.edukacija@lndm.lt
- Plan your visit to the Pranas Domšaitis Gallery
33 Liepu st, LT-92145, Klaipėda, Lithuania
+370 46 410 412
domsaicio.galerija@lndm.lt
