The first and only Angel Museum in Lithuania opened its doors when a Lithuanian art critic, theater and cultural figure Beatričė Kleizaitė – Vasaris donated her collection of angel art. It contains 109 angels: paintings, graphic works, and Lithuanian folk art. After giving her collection, B. Kleizaitė – Vasaris proclaimed Anykščiai the town of angels and started encouraging different artists to donate at least one of their works to the museum. The Angel Museum’s permanent exposition displays the works of winners of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art, prominent artists and other authors, as well as the creations of Lithuanian folk artists. The Angel Museum organizes educational workshops, concerts, book presentations, and other events.
Beatričė Kleizaitė-Vasaris became interested in angel images when she returned to Lithuania in 1989 and with Jurga Ivanauskaite were interviewed by the newspaper “Šiaurės Atėnai”. It was a first time Beatričė Kleizaitė-Vasaris spoke about angels. Jurga P. presented Beatričė with a painting by Jonas Daniliauskas entitled “Angel Stumbling Before a Woman”. The paint had not yet dried, but Jurga Ivanauskaitė convinced her teacher that Beatričė Kleizaitė-Vasaris absolutely needed this work. Mrs Beatričė kept this one painting from the entire collection of angels for herself.
After donating her collection of angels, Beatričė Kleizaitė-Vasaris proclaimed Anykščiai as the City of Angels and began talking with artists to donate at least one work to the museum.
The permanent exhibition of the Museum of Angels currently displays the works of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art laureates Leonas Strioga, Vladas Vildžiūnas, Leonards Gutauskas, the works of the eminent painters Aloyzas Stasiulevičius, Vytautas Ignas, Jurgas Ivanauskaitė, Filomena Linčiūtė-Vaitiekūnienė and many others, as well as the works of Lithuanian folk artists and folk art.
Since the opening of the Angel Museum, various ways have been explored to add to the collection. The “Give an Angel to the Museum” campaign is launched. More and more artists are donating their works to the museum. Since 2011, Anykščiai hosts plein-air workshops, workshops and laboratories of professional artists, during which the works created during the workshops are left for the museum. The example of Beatričė Kleizaitė-Vasaris was followed by the priest Justas Jasėnas, and foreign embassies in Lithuania responded to the Museum’s appeal to donate exhibits to the Angel Museum.
The more light, joy and peace there is in our lives, the more we will feel the closeness and help of the angels. Only at the Angel Museum will you find the mysterious Angel to whom you can tell your biggest dreams. After all, angels make wishes come true…
Beatričė Kleizaitė-Vasaris
Beatričė Kleizaitė-Vasaris was born in 1925. Kaunas. 1941-1944 m. she studied at the Drama Studio of Kaunas State Theatre. He emigrated from Lithuania during World War II. 1945-1948 m. In Italy, he continued his art studies and worked at the Lithuanian Embassy. 1948 m. went to Argentina, 1958 – to Canada, and later to the USA. He has worked in libraries and in teaching. He was active in Lithuanian social and cultural activities. After the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, he returned to his homeland. She brought to Lithuania artists from the diaspora – V. Kašuba, A. Galdikas, V. Ignas and others. collections of works. He set up the Grand Duke Gediminas Monument Endowment Fund and worked hard to bring the idea of the monument to life. For services to Lithuania and Vilnius in 2002. was awarded the Medal of Barbora Radvilaitė.