Lithuania evacuates over 1,500 art valuables from Ukraine

That's according to Lithuania's public broadcaster LRT, Ukrinform reports.

Paintings by Maria Prymachenko, one of Ukraine's most famous folk artists, are currently undergoing restoration. Negotiations are also underway to bring back 15th-century wooden altars from the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv.

Jurate Senvaitiene, director of the Pranas Gudynas Conservation Center, said none of the art pieces were pulled from ruins or were damaged during the war. Most of them were brought to Lithuania from western Ukraine where they were evacuated from frontline regions. Art valuables from museums in Lviv, Kyiv, Odesa and other cities also arrived in Vilnius.

Some 100 works by Prymachenko have been brought to Lithuania so far, and most of them are on display at the Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum in Vilnius, while 15 of the most damaged works are still on the tables of the specialists at the Pranas Gudynas Conservation Center.

"They were stored at a museum in Zaporizhzhia. The city suffered terribly during the war, and some of the works were rescued and brought to Western Ukraine, and from there, we were able to bring them to Lithuania," Senvaitiene said.

"Before that, our restorer had to travel to western Ukraine to inspect the works, assess their condition and decide whether they could be transported at all. Before that, we did not have much information about their condition. After examining the works and deciding that they were still transportable, the restorer got them ready for shipment," she said.

In October, the Lithuanian National Museum of Art and the Jonas Karolis Chodkevicius Support and Charity Fund launched a fundraising campaign for the restoration of the artist's works.

Since the February 2022 invasion, specialists of the Gudynas Conservation Center have inspected 1,500 works from Ukraine, determined their condition, prepared for exhibitions and long-term storage and technologically researched and restored a large part of them.

"This is a lot, given that we do not stop our planned work and everything that is planned has to be done and all the commitments to other Lithuanian and foreign museums are being fulfilled, without delay," Senvaitiene said.

Photo credit: R. Riabovas / BNS