Count Benedykt Henryk Tyszkiewicz (1852–1935), owner of Raudondvaris near Kaunas, was one of the pioneers of artistic photography in Lithuania and Poland and an active participant in the French photographic world. He took up photography around 1882, joined the Société française de photographie in 1884 and later became a member of the prestigious Photo-Club de Paris in 1898.
His photographs range from portraits, family life and aristocratic interiors to travel, rural life and carefully staged pictorial scenes. Works were made in France, Lithuania, Poland and at Wiała near Vilnius, and were shown in international photographic salons and reproduced in contemporary publications.
His photographic output has been estimated at approximately 20,000 prints and negatives. The surviving corpus has expanded dramatically through rediscovery: the Musée Nicéphore Niépce acquired 86 prints in 1993, more than 700 photographs have since been brought to light in Lithuania, and nine bound albums surfaced in 2024. These discoveries make private collections an especially important field for further research.
What we are seeking
Original photographs by Tyszkiewicz, individually mounted prints, groups and bound albums, especially examples with handwritten annotations, exhibition history, family provenance or other evidence connecting them to the photographer and his circle.