Czeslaw Znamierowski

Czeslaw Viktorovich Znamierowski (23 May 1890 – 9 August 1977) was a renowned Soviet Lithuanian painter, a member of the Artists' Union of the USSR, known for his large artworks and love of nature. Znamierowski combined these two passions to create some of the most notable paintings in the Soviet Union, earning a prestigious title of "Honorable Artist of LSSR" in 1965. His works can be found in the Lithuanian Art Museum, Šiaulių „Aušros“ Museum, Warsaw National Gallery of Art, the Tretyakov Gallery as well as in known private collections and art funds.

Znamierowski was born in Zatišje, Ludza, in eastern Latvia, to a father who worked as a land-surveyor and a mother who was a music teacher. He attended the St. Petersburg Academy of Art twice between 1912 and 1917, and then attended Vilnius University from 1926 to 1929. He studied under Ferdynand Ruszczyc, Arkady Rylov, Isaac Levitan, and Nicholas Roerich. Znamierowski lived in Vilnius the remainder of his life, and often painted images of the cities landscapes. By 1965, he painted around 1400 landscapes and made 800 sketches and over 3000 artworks in his entire 50-year career as an artist.

Znamierowski's art was popular at home and abroad. He was one of the few artists in the Soviet Union, whose art was allowed to leave The Iron Curtain. His artworks were sold to museums, state institutions, galleries and private collection of Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Russia (within the Soviet Bloc) as well as USA, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Spain, France (outside the Soviet Bloc) It is very likely that his art was sold to many other countries:"His [Czeslaw Znamierowski's] works have been acquired by Lithuanian and foreign museums."