NEWS

The XXth international plein air of painters "Panevėžys 2022", dedicated to the memory of Kazimieras Naruševičius, was opened in Gallery XX. These plein airs have been organized in Panevėžys since 1998.

"I congratulate everyone who gathered to open the jubilee, already the XXth plein-air painting exhibition. I thank the organizers for the opportunity to see the works of expressive, unique creators. I thank the authors for giving us the thought and feeling, for the opportunity to get to know each other. I wish the artists endless creative power. Let me congratulate the organizers and wish to celebrate many more open-air anniversaries together", said Rytis Račkauskas, the Mayor of Panevėžys, in his welcoming speech.

This year, 10 painters from Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Romania are participating in the plein air, namely. They are Maris Čačka, Ilzė Smildzina (Latvia), Antanas Obcarskas, Vitalija Petraitytė, Virginijus Tamošiūnas, Irina Nosova, Tomas Rudokas (Lithuania), Oksana Svizhak, Svetlana Briniuk (Ukraine), Muguras Popa (Romania).

The first open-air exhibition, in which only painters from the city of Panevėžys participated, took place in 1998, in Paistrys, Juozas Zikaras Gymnasium. Since 2002, it has been decided to revive plein air painting and to make it a tradition. Since the painters of Panevėžys wanted to honour the city's honorary citizen, painter-pedagogue, Kazimieras Naruševičius, the first professional member of the Lithuanian Union of Artists, it was decided to dedicate a painting plein air to the memory of this famous resident of Panevėžys. Since 2002, international plein airs of painters were organized continuously, only the place of its performance changed. Plein airs of painters took place in the homestead of the village of Duokiškis, in the Bistrampolis manor, and since 2013, it was decided to organize it in Panevėžys.

The participants of plein air participants have the opportunity to get acquainted with the city of Panevėžys, its cultural potential, the collections of artworks accumulated in the city's galleries and public spaces. The works painted during the plein air are added to the collection of paintings every year.