There have never been many drawings of mushrooms. Mysterious and long poorly understood, mushrooms often remained in the shadow of studies of animals and plants. Yet the history of mushroom illustration was profoundly marked by the work of educator, botanist, and naturalist of the Vilnius region Konstantinas Prošinskis (1859–1936). His drawings were preserved in archives for many years and are now emerging as a unique testimony to the history of both science and art.

The exhibition presents reproductions of Konstantinas Prošinskis’s mushroom watercolours. They convey the forms, colours, and structural details of mushrooms with remarkable precision, while scientific accuracy often merges with a subtle and somewhat romanticised artistic expression.

The works on display reveal not only the artist’s exceptional attention to the diversity of mushroom forms and colours, but also the traditions of natural history, scientific illustration, and artistic expression characteristic of the early 20th century. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to discover a little-known chapter in Lithuania’s natural heritage and the history of mycology.

The exhibition will be on view at the museum until 1 September.* Admission is included with a museum ticket, and the exhibition can be visited during museum opening hours:

Tuesday–Thursday: 3–8 pm
Saturday–Sunday: 11 am–8 pm

Exhibition author and academic consultant: Dr Jonas Kasparavičius
Curators: Inga Berulienė, Aida V. Dobkevičiūtė
Graphic design: Eglė Pundzevičiūtė
Exhibition team: Rūta Kazlauskienė, Mindaugas Rasimavičius, Inga Raubaitė, Audronė Stasiukaitytė
Organised by: Markučiai Manor and the Wróblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences

* From 20 to 26 August, Markučiai Manor will host a performance by the Old Theatre of Vilnius, and the museum will therefore be closed.