Jurbarkas District Municipality
Jurbarkas District
sculptor's homestead-museum with an authentic workshop
Vydūno g. 31, Jurbarkas
55.08250, 22.74880
30-60 minutes
year-round
Vincas Grybas Museum, Vincas Grybas Homestead-Museum
The Sculptor's Home
The Vincas Grybas Memorial Museum is in Jurbarkas, in the sculptor's authentic homestead beside the former manor. This is where Vincas Grybas lived, worked, and created his best-known monuments, so the museum preserves not only his art but also the everyday environment of its making.
Grybas came to Jurbarkas in 1928 and settled in abandoned buildings of the former Prince Vasilchikov manor. The museum operates in those spaces: the service wing, forge, and bathhouse where the sculptor prepared models and realised his ideas. Such a surviving working environment is rare in Lithuania.
Who Was Vincas Grybas?
Vincas Grybas (1890-1941) was one of the most important Lithuanian creators of monumental sculpture in the first half of the twentieth century. VLE states that he studied in Warsaw, Kaunas, and Paris, including at the studio of the celebrated sculptor Antoine Bourdelle. His works are solemn public monuments shaped by a national spirit.
Grybas created several important Lithuanian monuments: the Simonas Daukantas monument in Papilė, monuments to Vytautas the Great in Jurbarkas and Kaunas, the Žemaitis monument in Raseiniai, and monuments to Vincas Kudirka and Petras Vileišis. Many became symbols of their towns, while Grybas himself became a master of the national monument.
A Tragic Fate
War cut the sculptor's life short. On July 3, 1941, after the beginning of the Nazi occupation, Vincas Grybas was arrested and shot near Jurbarkas together with other genocide victims, according to lists prepared by local collaborators. Lithuania lost one of its most talented sculptors at the height of his creative powers.
The museum preserves this memory. Alongside the artistic legacy, including sculptures, plaster models, and sketches, it also tells the story of the artist's dramatic fate. That makes the visit both an art experience and a historical one.
How to Visit
The museum operates in Jurbarkas, beside Jurbarkas Manor, so the two sites are easy to see together. In the homestead you can see the authentic workshop, forge, and sculptures; inside the exhibitions you encounter Grybas' art and related displays. A visit usually takes 30-60 minutes.
At the time of research, visiting was published for weekdays and Saturday; the museum also participates in Lithuania's Culture Passport programme and offers educational activities. Because opening hours and prices change, check the official museum page before travelling.
