Pledge of Freedom: The Art Collection of Mykolas Žilinskas

Mykolas Žilinskas (1904–1992) was one of the most enigmatic figures and the most remarkable art collector in 20th-century Lithuanian cultural history. Žilinskas, an émigré in West Berlin after World War II, amassed a collection of over 1,600 works. Between 1974 and 1988, he donated the collection to his country of birth, expressing his wish to support and strengthen the Lithuanian national spirit. The M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art in Kaunas has a separate gallery dedicated to his collection.