This exhibition, which presents a panorama of Ukrainian art of the 20th century, has previously been temporarily transferred to the archives to make room for the international project “Identity. Behind the curtain of uncertainty,” which was produced in collaboration with the embassies of eight North Baltic countries, as reported by the press service of the museum. After the project was over, a renovation was commissioned for the premises.
And now for the Independence Day, the National Art Museum presents an updated exhibition of the 20th-century art. According to the museum staff, it features the works, transferred from the archives, by Oleksandr Murashko, Fedir and Vasyl Krychevsky, members of Boichuk’s school and of Transcarpathian school, the Sixtiers, Tetiana Yablonska, Jacques Hnizdovsky, representatives of the New Wave and of the Artistic Reserve, and the most interesting part of the collection – Ukrainian avant-garde.
Some works are on display for the first time, the chronological line has been extended to the early 2000s. So, in addition to familiar works, viewers can see art, never exhibited before: sculptures by Oleksandr Sukholit, paintings by Tiberii Silvashi, Oleksandr Zhyvotkov, and Mykola Kryvenko, graphics by Pavlo Makov, the art of the Sixtiers – Viktor Zaretsky, Valerii Lamakh, Anatolii Lymariev, and works, brought to light from the oblivion of the museum’s special fund, of Kostiantyn Yeleva, Ivan Lysenko, Teofil Fraerman, and many others.
“This temporary break has enabled the museum’s department for the research of the 20th-21st-centuries’ art to refresh the outlook on the artwork that will present the 20th century in the display. The selection of works emphasizes the development of modernist tendencies, inherent in even the most repressive periods of Ukrainian history; it also emphasizes the ongoing reflection on our own tradition, openness to global processes, and synchronicity with such processes,” assert the museum staff.
Remarkably, the second floor has been renovated for the new opening by means of the community. Thus, the funds to repair the floor were raised among businessmen, collectors, gallery owners, artists, critics, and other people.
Some visitors have even managed to capture on paper their impressions of the renewed display. On August 27, NAMU jointly with Youth Art Platform (YAP) have invited everyone for a sketching session in the museum halls. A lot of people came to the event. On it, theory was mixed with practice, according to YAP participants’ Facebook reports – there were lectures on the concept of tone, on the principles of composite structure of the paintings, and on avant-garde art. Apart from that, of course, the visitors drew their own art.
