Remembering the Masters

Thus, the images of D. Horlenko and Ye. Hrebinka created in the first third of the 19th century by K. Pavlov and A. Mokrytskyi are marked by features of romanticism. Realist tendencies can be traced in the works of H. Vasko and H. Miasoiedov.

The canvas of K. Makovskyi “Grooming” (the 19th century) is the sample of the salon portrait, features of art nouveau and impressionism are traced in “The portrait of a woman” (the beginning of the 20th century) of M. Bohdanov-Belskyi.The images of children and young people performed by M. Ge “The Girl in a Red Cuff” (1856), M. Rachkov “The Ukrainian Girl” (the II half of the 19th century) and V. Afanasiev “The Portrait of the Ukrainian Boy” (the 19th century) are distinguished by interest in ethnographic details.

The domestic genre is actively developing from the beginning of the 19th century under the influence of changes in society.

The works of V. Shternberg (“Chumaky near the tavern”), I. Sokolov (“Little Russia Girls who tell fortunes by crowns”) and K. Trutovskyi (“The Ukrainian Woman”) are marked by appeal to peasant subjects.

In the 19th century the landscape appears for the first time as an independent genre in Ukrainian painting. Noteworthy are the works of M. Klodt, Y. Krachkovskyi and V. Bialynitskyi-Biruli. The landscapes by S. Svitoslavskyi, V. Menko, M. Pymonenko, M. Buracheko, V. Kozlovskyi and M. Kholodovskyi are full of feelings of penetrating lyricism.

The special pride of the museum collection is Taras Shevchenko etchings “The Judges Board” and “Starosty” from the series “Picturesque Ukraine” (1844). Imprints from the author’s boards were made by V. Kasiian in 1939.

At the beginning of the century Ukrainian artists had not lost their cultural ties with Europe and had been in the field of artistic innovations.

The museum collection contains works by famous modernist artists, whose works are the golden fund of Ukrainian culture.

One of the Universalists was the spokesman for the European modern M. Zhuk. Synthesis of symbolism, secession, and traditions of national art were the determinants of the figurative and stylistic concept of the artist, for example: full of elegance “Portrait of a Woman” (1901), decorative panel “Lilies” (1918).

Impressionist features of painting are brilliantly embodied in the canvas of M. Buracheck “Still Life. Flowers” (the beginning of the 20th century). A wide body smear vigorously cleans the form, passes live elasticity of flowers, and reproduces a diverse texture.

Symbolism and impressionism, seeking for color made the basis of I. Trush work (“Cypresses”, “Flowering bush”).O. Bohomazov, the founder of Ukrainian cubofuturizm, synthesized geometrical forms and dynamics of movement in his works (etude “Street on the Podil”, 1912).The versatility of the work of L. Kramarenko, the founder of the “Association of Modern Artists of Ukraine”, which was oriented towards the European artistic avant-garde, was featured in the paintings “Abkhazia. Gudauta. On the Shore” (1938), “The Road to the Mountains” (1936).

Since the 1930’s, art was oriented towards the mastery of the canons of socialist realism. However, even in such difficult circumstances, artists were experimenting in the realm of style.

The performance and the poetry of works by K. Trokhymenko, O. Pashchenko and S. Butnyk, Chernihiv artists A. Rzheznikov, P. Chyrko and O. Antiokh-Verbytskyi and many others drive special attention.