BIOGRAPHY
ARŪNAS RUTKUS was born in 1961 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
In 1985 the artist graduated Monumental Painting (fresco, mosaic) studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Arts.
Arūnas Rutkus exhibited his works in more than 50 personal and group exhibitions in 17 countries, including:
Artworks of Arūnas Rutkus can be found in museums, galleries and private collections all over the world. The Sheikh of Sharjah (UAE) purchased the artist's painting titled "Horse," which he donated to the Sharjah Museum (UAE). NBA stars Arvydas Sabonis and Šarūnas Marčiulionis have works by Arūnas Rutkus in their art collections — Arvydas Sabonis owns a collection of fifty works of art by Arūnas Rutkus. The artist's painting titled "Leaf" belongs to the singer Sting.
Arūnas Rutkus is also known as a film director whose short film won the Special Jury Prize at the Fragrances in Motion Awards at the Milan Short Film Festival (Italy) in 2016, and his directed music video for Happyendless's song "No Tomorrow" won the MTV Fresh Award in 2008.
For nearly a decade, Arūnas has donated his work to some of the most recognized charity auctions in Europe — including Amber Lounge Monaco, Caudwell Children, Lions Club Lietuva, and Auginam Lietuvai Čempionus — a commitment that began after an auction organizer discovered his paintings in a gallery in the south of France. His paintings have been auctioned alongside works by Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall, and Damien Hirst, raising over €200,000 for children's causes to date. His highest-selling auction piece, "Falling Star. Blue Water," reached €40,000.
1990 Vincent Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark. Personal exhibition.
1990 Young Artists Association Gallery, Budapest, Hungary.
1991 Vincent Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark. Personal exhibition.
1992 Campo San Zaccario, Venice, Italy.
1992 Vartai Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania.
1993 European Painting, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE.
1994 Vartai Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania.
1995 4th St. Petersburg Biennial "Spatia Nova," St. Petersburg, Russia.
1995 The Art Society of International Monetary Fund, Washington, USA. Personal exhibition.
1997 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bonn, Germany. Personal exhibition.
1999 NATO Headquarters, Manfred Wörner Building, Brussels, Belgium. Personal exhibition.
2000 Arka Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania.
2002 Väsby Konsthall, Upplands Väsby, Stockholm, Sweden.
2003 INFRA Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden.
2007 Domus Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania.
2010 Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, Vilnius, Lithuania.
2010 Art Hotel "Eze Hermitage," Èze, France.
2010 Art Cannes, Cannes, France.
2011 Art En Capital, Grand Palais, Paris, France.
2011 Salon de SNBA, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France.
2012 Gallery New Form, Trelleborg, Sweden.
2013 Kunstraum Connex, Leipzig, Germany.
2013 Gallery "Art Montparnasse," Paris, France.
2014 Salon de SNBA, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France.
2015 Art Hotel "Eze Hermitage," Èze, France. Personal exhibition.
2017 Vera International Art Festival, Moscow, Russia.
2017 Salon of the Association of Independent Artists, Cannes, France.
2017 Asia Contemporary Art Show, Hong Kong.
2017 "Bonjour Tristesse" exhibited and sold at the Amber Lounge Monaco Charity Auction.
2018 Asia Contemporary Art Show, Hong Kong.
2018 "Falling Star 2" exhibited and sold at the Caudwell Children Charity Auction.
2018 "Eclipse I" exhibited and sold at the Butterfly Ball Monaco charity auction.
2019 "Golden Window" exhibited and sold at the Amber Lounge Monaco Charity Auction.
2019 Joined "Auginam Lietuvai Čempionus" charity initiative, Vilnius, Lithuania.
2021 "Falling Star. Blue Waters" exhibited and sold at the Amber Lounge Monaco Charity Auction, in support of Caudwell Children.
2022 "Victory Horse" exhibited and sold at the Amber Lounge Charity Auction, in support of Ukrainian children.
2023 "Morning in Monaco" exhibited and sold at a Monaco charity auction.
2025 "Luminescence" exhibited and sold at the Butterfly Ball Monaco, in support of Caudwell Children.
ART is just a few letters to express everything, to say everything — to say everything properly. After all, what is created by art seems to live forever and ever. It's a proof of a soulful beauty hiding under the veil of reality and dreams. It's the proof of a diverse beauty — diverse like our desires, our fantasies, our feelings and our love.
From the sculpture of Venus of Lespugue, counting about 30,000 years, to the modern expression of a concept "artist created a woman" — the body of a woman illustrates the whole history of art. The hand of Arūnas Rutkus creates its own image of the woman out of imagination, aristocratic — that is the woman of Arūnas. Young, she expresses sensuality, a mysterious, distant, disturbing sensuality of mythological deities. No, she did not pose to Tintoretto or Rubens, not to Courbet all the more. She is the model of Pre-Raphaelites, symbolists — Rossetti, Puvis de Chavannes, Gustave Moreau, Gustave Klimt... all the poets, looking beyond the limits of reality.
In the frame of the canvas the face and the body of "Rutkus's Eve" conjoin with the beautiful accessories, and thus, from the overall picture an abstraction shows up creating the fine art. Finely decorated ornaments on masks, lace, hats and transparent veils contrast with a simple and purified whole of the portraits. The Rutkus's palette mixes warm tones, all the subtle shades of brown, occasionally revitalizing with red.
The art of Arūnas Rutkus reminds me of the careful painting of icons, but his art is not religious: it is born from pagan ancient Egypt, a sensuality of Greek or Indian goddesses, the sensuality of a deified woman — mysterious, distant, disturbing.
Yes, the work comes out more beautiful
from a material
that resists the process,
verse, marble, onyx, or enamel
— Théophile Gautier, Art. Enamels and Cameos
ARŪNAS RUTKUS was born in 1961 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
In 1985 the artist graduated Monumental Painting (fresco, mosaic) studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Arts.
Arūnas Rutkus exhibited his works in more than 50 personal and group exhibitions in 17 countries, including:
Artworks of Arūnas Rutkus can be found in museums, galleries and private collections all over the world. The Sheikh of Sharjah (UAE) purchased the artist's painting titled "Horse," which he donated to the Sharjah Museum (UAE). NBA stars Arvydas Sabonis and Šarūnas Marčiulionis have works by Arūnas Rutkus in their art collections — Arvydas Sabonis owns a collection of fifty works of art by Arūnas Rutkus. The artist's painting titled "Leaf" belongs to the singer Sting.
Arūnas Rutkus is also known as a film director whose short film won the Special Jury Prize at the Fragrances in Motion Awards at the Milan Short Film Festival (Italy) in 2016, and his directed music video for Happyendless's song "No Tomorrow" won the MTV Fresh Award in 2008.
For nearly a decade, Arūnas has donated his work to some of the most recognized charity auctions in Europe — including Amber Lounge Monaco, Caudwell Children, Lions Club Lietuva, and Auginam Lietuvai Čempionus — a commitment that began after an auction organizer discovered his paintings in a gallery in the south of France. His paintings have been auctioned alongside works by Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall, and Damien Hirst, raising over €200,000 for children's causes to date. His highest-selling auction piece, "Falling Star. Blue Water," reached €40,000.
1990 Vincent Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark. Personal exhibition.
1990 Young Artists Association Gallery, Budapest, Hungary.
1991 Vincent Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark. Personal exhibition.
1992 Campo San Zaccario, Venice, Italy.
1992 Vartai Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania.
1993 European Painting, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE.
1994 Vartai Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania.
1995 4th St. Petersburg Biennial "Spatia Nova," St. Petersburg, Russia.
1995 The Art Society of International Monetary Fund, Washington, USA. Personal exhibition.
1997 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bonn, Germany. Personal exhibition.
1999 NATO Headquarters, Manfred Wörner Building, Brussels, Belgium. Personal exhibition.
2000 Arka Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania.
2002 Väsby Konsthall, Upplands Väsby, Stockholm, Sweden.
2003 INFRA Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden.
2007 Domus Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania.
2010 Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, Vilnius, Lithuania.
2010 Art Hotel "Eze Hermitage," Èze, France.
2010 Art Cannes, Cannes, France.
2011 Art En Capital, Grand Palais, Paris, France.
2011 Salon de SNBA, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France.
2012 Gallery New Form, Trelleborg, Sweden.
2013 Kunstraum Connex, Leipzig, Germany.
2013 Gallery "Art Montparnasse," Paris, France.
2014 Salon de SNBA, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France.
2015 Art Hotel "Eze Hermitage," Èze, France. Personal exhibition.
2017 Vera International Art Festival, Moscow, Russia.
2017 Salon of the Association of Independent Artists, Cannes, France.
2017 Asia Contemporary Art Show, Hong Kong.
2017 "Bonjour Tristesse" exhibited and sold at the Amber Lounge Monaco Charity Auction.
2018 Asia Contemporary Art Show, Hong Kong.
2018 "Falling Star 2" exhibited and sold at the Caudwell Children Charity Auction.
2018 "Eclipse I" exhibited and sold at the Butterfly Ball Monaco charity auction.
2019 "Golden Window" exhibited and sold at the Amber Lounge Monaco Charity Auction.
2019 Joined "Auginam Lietuvai Čempionus" charity initiative, Vilnius, Lithuania.
2021 "Falling Star. Blue Waters" exhibited and sold at the Amber Lounge Monaco Charity Auction, in support of Caudwell Children.
2022 "Victory Horse" exhibited and sold at the Amber Lounge Charity Auction, in support of Ukrainian children.
2023 "Morning in Monaco" exhibited and sold at a Monaco charity auction.
2025 "Luminescence" exhibited and sold at the Butterfly Ball Monaco, in support of Caudwell Children.
ART is just a few letters to express everything, to say everything — to say everything properly. After all, what is created by art seems to live forever and ever. It's a proof of a soulful beauty hiding under the veil of reality and dreams. It's the proof of a diverse beauty — diverse like our desires, our fantasies, our feelings and our love.
From the sculpture of Venus of Lespugue, counting about 30,000 years, to the modern expression of a concept "artist created a woman" — the body of a woman illustrates the whole history of art. The hand of Arūnas Rutkus creates its own image of the woman out of imagination, aristocratic — that is the woman of Arūnas. Young, she expresses sensuality, a mysterious, distant, disturbing sensuality of mythological deities. No, she did not pose to Tintoretto or Rubens, not to Courbet all the more. She is the model of Pre-Raphaelites, symbolists — Rossetti, Puvis de Chavannes, Gustave Moreau, Gustave Klimt... all the poets, looking beyond the limits of reality.
In the frame of the canvas the face and the body of "Rutkus's Eve" conjoin with the beautiful accessories, and thus, from the overall picture an abstraction shows up creating the fine art. Finely decorated ornaments on masks, lace, hats and transparent veils contrast with a simple and purified whole of the portraits. The Rutkus's palette mixes warm tones, all the subtle shades of brown, occasionally revitalizing with red.
The art of Arūnas Rutkus reminds me of the careful painting of icons, but his art is not religious: it is born from pagan ancient Egypt, a sensuality of Greek or Indian goddesses, the sensuality of a deified woman — mysterious, distant, disturbing.
Yes, the work comes out more beautiful
from a material
that resists the process,
verse, marble, onyx, or enamel
— Théophile Gautier, Art. Enamels and Cameos
ARUNAS RUTKUS
ARUNAS RUTKUS
Follow @arunasrutkusart
Follow @arunasrutkusart
