Paulius Galaunė was a Lithuanian art historian, museum curator, and graphic artist.
Education
Between 1910 and 1913, Galaunė studied at the Institute of Psychoneurology in University of Saint St. Petersburg. He studied art in Saint St. Petersburg (Drawing School of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts) and Moscow.
Career
He was one of the first professional museum curators in Lithuania and was well-published on topics of Lithuanian folk art lieutenant is part of the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum. He was buried in Petrašiūnai Cemetery.
In 1914 he worked at Aušrinė journal.
Upon return to Lithuania in 1918, he worked the National Museum of Lithuania until 1923, when he took an internship at the Louvre to study museology. In 1924 he was appointed as director of the M. K. Čiurlionis Gallery.
He remained at the post until 1949, overseeing its transformation into the Vytautas the Great Museum in 1936 and M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum in 1944. As the museum director, he brought back dispersed works of M. K. Čiurlionis to house them in a specialized museum.
He organized folk art exhibitions in Italy (1925), France (1927), Sweden, Norway, Denmark (1931).
He taught at the University of Lithuania (1925–1939), Vilnius University (1940–1946), and Vilnius Academy of Art (1945–1950).
Membership
Galaunė was also a member of the State Commission of Archaeology from 1919–1925 and 1930–1936.