Exclusive Exhibition of Frans Hals’ Paintings

LNDM Radvila Palace Art Museum Unveils the Masterpiece Room: Visitors to Encounter Frans Hals’ Paintings in Solitude

In February, the LNDM Radvila Palace Art Museum will invite visitors to a unique exhibition titled “Masterpiece Room: Frans Hals’ Evangelists from the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art Collection.” This exhibition will showcase the works of the genius 17th-century portraitist Frans Hals, featuring the portraits of St. Luke and St. Matthew. These works have been brought from the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art due to the large-scale war activities in Ukraine.

An interdisciplinary group of art historians and artists has created a special experience in the Masterpiece Room. Visitors will be immersed in the context of the masterpiece through audiovisual and multimedia means, allowing them to personally experience the artwork without distractions from external sounds, images, or other visitors.

“The Masterpiece Room offers an enhanced artistic experience,” says Dr. Arūnas Gelūnas, General Director of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art and the project’s creator. “According to the German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer, encountering an artwork is an encounter with one’s true self. Therefore, we want to invite visitors to an exclusive, intimate, and personal acquaintance with the world’s art masterpieces. During this experience, viewers will not only gain knowledge about the featured works, their authors, and historical context through various audiovisual technologies but also have the opportunity to spend uninterrupted time with the original piece, dedicating their full attention to it – a luxury and pleasure in today’s fast-paced world,” explains the museum director.

Frans Hals. Šv. Matas. Apie 1625. Drobė, aliejus. Odesos Vakarų ir Rytų meno muziejus

An Idea Inspired by Director David Lynch

This individually presented exhibition is the first of its kind in Lithuania. Dr. A. Gelūnas emphasizes that the project aims to immerse the viewer in a slower pace than modern daily life:

“The idea arose from realizing that as the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, we are a very large institution offering many high-quality, interesting exhibitions. However, the viewer – the busy modern person – does not have time to establish a deep connection with each artwork. Studies show that in large exhibitions, visitors spend an average of just seven seconds on one piece. I want to imagine a visitor falling in love with a piece, returning to it, and internally debating with its author, as the piece evokes various thoughts and feelings.

During the pandemic, I recalled a very strange and mysterious film by director David Lynch, ‘Mulholland Drive.’ There is a scene where the viewer sees the protagonist’s spiritual conversion occurring in an empty theater. The character is absorbed into a parallel reality, and conventional time becomes fictional reality time. Similarly, I want to invite our museum visitors into such a situation, at least once in their lifetime. The idea of the Masterpiece Room is to stop routine time and transform it into quality artistic time.”

“Single masterpiece exhibitions are held in various museums, but they do not encourage the visitor to establish an intimate connection with the artwork. Therefore, we decided that visitors would enter the Masterpiece Room one by one – being alone with the artwork and its multimedia narrative will be a powerful experience,” adds Dr. Arūnas Gelūnas.

The Masterpiece Room’s exhibition was created by an award-winning team including theater director Paulius Markevičius, playwright Birutė Kapustinskaitė, composer Andrius Šiurys, and a broad team of architects, designers, and art historians. The project implementation was coordinated by Justina Augustytė, director of the Radvila Palace Art Museum.

Frans Hals. Šv. Lukas. Apie 1625. Drobė, aliejus. Odesos Vakarų ir Rytų meno muziejus

Bringing Masterpieces from Ukraine

The first works presented in the Masterpiece Room are portraits of St. Luke and St. Matthew by the renowned Dutch portraitist Frans Hals. These works vividly reveal the artist’s mastery and unique style – a free, energetic brushstroke.

On February 24, 2022, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s museums faced the threat of destruction and looting. Pre-war contacts and plans for joint exhibitions with the Odessa Museum prompted the Lithuanian National Museum of Art to take security measures and transport valuable artworks out of the country. After detailed planning and a risky journey requiring diplomatic and logistical efforts, the artworks reached the LNDM storage facilities and were restored at the LNDM Pranas Gudynas Restoration Center.

“The transport of the artworks took place through Western Ukraine. At that time, about 800 paintings and graphics works were brought to Lithuania. We have already presented most of them to the public – seven exhibitions have been organized featuring works from Ukraine. We saved the best for last: the painting ‘The Tax’ by the French painter Georges de La Tour and the portraits of St. Luke and St. Matthew by Frans Hals. Presenting these genius works, which reached us under extraordinary circumstances, in the Masterpiece Room is a gift to every art lover,” says Dr. A. Gelūnas.

Although 2024 is not a jubilee year for Frans Hals, the growing interest in this artist in Germany and the Netherlands can be attributed to the public’s longing for humanism, which is evident in his paintings. Hals depicted women, men, and children, painting subjects that were unconventional for his time, such as socially marginalized individuals: alcoholics, lunatics, and beggars. Moreover, Hals was the first portraitist in the world to paint smiling people.

Franso Halso paveikslų atgabenimas į LNDM Prano Gudyno restauravimo centrą, Gintarės Grigėnaitės nuotrauka

What is a Masterpiece?

The Masterpiece Room exhibition invites visitors not only to contemplate Frans Hals’ creative legacy but also to answer the question – what is a masterpiece?

“A masterpiece should transcend time. It is a creation valued from an eternity perspective, not just a contemporary trend. Similarly, I believe a masterpiece should transcend geographical boundaries. If it is understood only by a narrow group of perceivers, it is a local work, but if it is admired worldwide, like Frans Hals’ portraits, it attests to the professionalism of the painting,” provides the museum director.

Exhibition Team:

• Project Creator: Dr. Arūnas Gelūnas, General Director of LNDM
• Director: Paulius Markevičius
• Playwright: Birutė Kapustinskaitė
• Composer: Andrius Šiurys

Project funded by: Lithuanian Council for Culture
Sponsor: AAS “BTA Baltic Insurance Company”
Project Partner: Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union