On January 9, 1907, the first Lithuanian art exhibition opened in Vilnius, and on September 15 of the same year the Lithuanian Art Society was founded, aiming to cultivate national art, unite and support Lithuanian artists scattered in different countries, educate society about art and collect valuable folk art artefacts. The Lithuanian example encouraged the Russian, Jewish, and Polish artists of Lithuania to conglomerate as well, which led to the foundation in early 1908 of the multicultural Vilnius Art Society.
These two collaborating institutions became the first active and long-running art societies. The societies developed comparatively late, in an international context, delayed by the political repressions carried out by the Tsarist administration after the unsuccessful uprising of 1863. Lithuania's situation was unique in Europe and the Russian empire; the local government, adhering to the Program of Restoration of Russian Beginnings, had exiled or forced the emigration of a large number of Lithuanian intellectuals, restricted the right to self-organise, and banned all local press in the Latin alphabet. The turning point came only in the early-20th century, when liberal reforms were implemented, including the Tsar's decree of March 17, 1906, which lifted the ban on professional associations.
Once allowed to self-organise, artists faced nationality-based tensions which had formed in the late- 19th century, and defined their identity: in addition to being sculptors or painters, they now also had to identify themselves as Poles, Jews, Belorussians or Lithuanians. Delineating one's identity and distinguishing "us" from "them" proved to be a difficult task. For instance, a Lithuanian was eligible to become a full member of the Lithuanian Art Society, while a person of any other nationality was eligible to become a supporting member. Yet determining one's nationality was based on both the objective criteria of background, language and social affiliation and the subjective identification of the individual. For this reason, the Society was joined by both those cultivating a modern ethno-linguistic identity and those affirming the historical-political one - that is, individuals who considered being Lithuanian as an expression of lost statehood and citizenship.
Aesthetic arguments were redundant. They did not separate the artists so much as they united them. When Vilnius University was closed in 1832, Lithuania was left without a single institution to provide higher education in the arts. Thus, local students had to choose between the art academies in Petersburg, Munich, and Krakow, the Warsaw School of Fine Arts (founded in 1904) or travelling to Paris. Abroad, they had the opportunity to learn the principles of symbolism and realism and, sometimes, impressionism, secession or postimpressionism. Many of them were influenced by the ideals of "pure beauty" and autonomous art, distanced from the social domain, which were typical of the epoch. This encounter between universal international experience and national ideologies resulted in collisions and became a subject of public debates.
In a sense, the Vilnius art world of the time was a mirage. The majority of influential artists were studying or working abroad, visiting the city only occasionally and participating in exhibitions "by correspondence" - sending their works by proxy to Vilnius. This was especially true for the Vilnius Art Society. Only a minor part of its members managed to leave a noticeable trace, including the Society's deputy chairman Ivan Rybakov, Vilnius-born painter Lev Antokolski, urban photographer and artist Stanislaw Fleury, and sculptor and architect Antanas Vivulskis.
Polish artists Stanislaw Bohusz-Siestrzencewicz, Stanislaw Jarocki and Franciszek Jurjewicz, who did not participate in the activity of the Vilnius Art Society, made a distinct contribution to the city's art life. In fact, Ferdinand Ruszczyc, who became a permanent resident of Vilnius in 1908, is considered to be the most notable artistic personality of the time. After quitting painting, he became actively engaged in the city's everyday matters and dedicated himself to organisational work and applied art.
Within the Lithuanian Art Society, the most distinguished member was its chairman, painter Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, who organised exhibitions, collected funds and wrote articles for the local press, promoting the union's causes. In 1907-1908, the most famous Lithuanian symbolist Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis resided in Vilnius and actively participated in the Society's activities. Sculptor Petras Rimša, known for his radical national orientation, was a frequent visitor to the city as well.
Prior to WWI, the most significant factor of the region's development was the separation between Lithuanians and Poles. Nevertheless, these ethno-cultural groups, especially the artists belonging to them, made attempts at continuing the traditions of coexistence associated with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (and Poland) alongside the efforts to identify along national lines. The development of both nations' art finally split into two separate histories in 1918, when the sovereign states of Lithuania and Poland emerged.