Pranas Domšaitis Gallery

PRANAS DOMŠAITIS (1880, Kropiens, Eastern Prussia, present-day Gajev, Kaliningrad district, Russia–1965, Cape Town, South Africa) – a Lithuanian Expressionist painter, originating from Lithuania Minor [Prussian Lithuania]. He gained renown in Germany as Franz Domscheit, and after World War II he became recognised in South Africa as Pranas Domšaitis. The Lithuanian Foundation (Chicago,USA) acquired 665 of the painter’s works from his widow and donated them to the Lithuanian Art Museum in 1989–2006 – the collection includes oil paintings, pastel works, watercolours, drawings, etchings and lithographs, as well as embroidered miniature compositions, in other words, a large portion of the complete works by P. Domšaitis. The painter’s works are exhibited in the Lithuanian National Museum’s of Art Klaipėda branch. The gallery was named in honour of Pranas Domšaitis in 2004.