National Art Museum of Ukraine

50°26′58″N 30°31′52″E / 50.44944°N 30.53111°E / 50.44944; 30.53111

The National Art Museum of Ukraine

Established	1899
Location	6 Hrushevsky Street, Kyiv, Ukraine
Director	Yulia Lytvynets
Website	https://namu.ua

The National Art Museum of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Національний Художній Музей України) is a museum dedicated to Ukrainian art in Kyiv, Ukraine.

History

The National Art Museum of Ukraine, which was the first museum in Kyiv to be freely open to the public, was founded at the end of the 19th century by the efforts of Ukrainian intellectuals.

Museum building was constructed under the project of Moscow architect Petro Boitsov in neo-classic style. This project was updated and implemented by Polish architect Władysław Horodecki. Sculpture decoration of the frontispiece is performed by Elio Salia.

The first exhibition on the occasion of the ХІ All-Russian Archaeology Conference took place in incompleted building of Kyiv City Museum of Antiquity and Art in August 1899. Official opening and consecration of the institution called

In 1919, after the nationalization, museum was called the First State, from 1924 – Taras Shevchenko All-Ukrainian Historical Museum, from 1936 – the State Ukrainian Museum, from 1939 – The State Museum of Ukrainian Art. During the Germany occupation of Kyiv in 1942, the museum was integrated with the Russian art collection under the common name the State Museum of East European Art. In 1944, the previous museum status was renewed. Changes of the museum names reflected the complicated life processes in the country and certain stages of Ukrainian museum work restoration. For example, the name changing shows the changes of museum collection's profile and separation of certain parts of this collection for establishment of other Kyiv museums.

The last name of this institution is the National Art Museum of Ukraine, it arose in 1994 in the independent Ukrainian state and it proved the highest museum status as the leading collection of Ukrainian art, which still remains the spiritual treasury of our country, its pride and wealth.

Main building architecture

It is located in a building that was constructed in 1898 by architect

Collections

The National Art Museum of Ukraine has the most representative collection of Ukrainian figurative art in the world. Collection of the museum numbers almost 40 thousands exhibits, among which masterpieces of Ukrainian painting, sculpture, and graphics from Kyiv Rus age to nowadays are represented.

Museum has one of the best Ukrainian icon collections which opens with the rare object of the 12th century – polychrome wooden relief "Saint George with hagiography" of Byzantine origin. Middle Ages are represented with classic examples of icon painting of 14–16th centuries from the Western Ukraine, including the unique antiquities such as Holy Mother "Hodigitria" from Volyn, St. George The Dragon Slayer, and The Passion of the Christ from Halychyna region.

The collection of Ukrainian Baroque art is outstanding by its value. Here one can find amazing examples of Ukrainian baroque icons such as The Intercession with the Portrait of Bohdan Khmelnytskiy (first half of the 18th century, Kyiv region), pair icons Great Martyrs Anastasia and Juliania, Barbara and Catherine (18th century, Northern Left Bank), icons from Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra workshops from the iconostasis of Dormition Cathedral Entrance to Jerusalem and The Nativity (1729). The iconostasis from Berezna village (Chernihiv region, 1860s) is the zest of the collection.

It shows the monumental reaching and excellent artistry of the masters of Ukrainian Baroque era. The impression of this wonderful age is strengthened by the collection of 18th century Ukrainian Portraits which represent the first secular genre in Ukrainian painting. The collection of folk paintings "Cossack the Bandura Player" is one of the biggest in the museum and expands the secular art of the Baroque period in Ukraine.

The age of the 19th century art, when St. Petersburg Academy of Arts was the trendsetter, opens with works of the famous Ukrainian portraitists, who connected their lives with the capital city of the Russian Empire — Dmytro Levytskiy and Volodymyr Borovykovskiy. Taras Shevchenko, the painter, occupies a special position in the history of Ukrainian art. Small collection of paintings and graphic works by Shevchenko gives a vision of his outstanding talent and shows new democratic tendencies in Ukrainian figurative art, continued by the artists of the next generation. Monographic collection of Mykola Pymonenko's works presents the following development of Ukrainian painting traditions which consisted in the increase of the genre subjects and transformation of painting manner from realism to impressionism. Odessa painting school led by Kiriak Kostandi is presented in the exhibition. The impression of the development of Ukrainian art is widened with the classical portraits (works by H. Vasko, A. Mokrytskiy, O. Rokachevskiy) and landscape paintings (works by V. Shternberg, V. Orlovkiy, S. Svitoslavskiy, S. Vasylkivskiy). Monographic collection of Oleksandr Murashko, bald art reformer who worked in the beginning of the 20th century, is the most interesting.

Vivid and original heritage of Ukrainian

• "Ukrainian Painting of 19th – early 20th century"
• "Ukrainian Icon Painting of 12th – early19th century"
• "Serhiy Vasylkivskiy"

From May 2004 – in the focus of attention was

• "Muzeinyi Provulok (Museum Lane)" magazine

2005 – published

• monographic album "Oleksandr Murashko"

2006 – issued

• "Ukrainian Painting of 20th – early 21st century"
• "Ukrainian Portrait of XVII-XVIII centuries"
• monographs "Mykola Pymonenko, V. Orlovskiy"
• "S.Svitoslavskiy"
• "Ukrainian Modernism"
• 6th number of "Muzeinyi Provulok (Museum Lane)" magazine

2007– 2008 – published

• 7, 8 and 9 numbers of "Muzeinyi Provulok (Museum Lane)" magazine

Current exhibition

Today, the museum continues to expand its collection. Some new additions include a unique icon relief of

Now Museum collects unofficial art works of totalitarian period — Ukrainian underground from the end of 1950 until 1991, articularly art woks by Feodosiy Tetianych, Mykola Trehub, Vudon Baklytskyi, Olena Golub and others.^[2]

Gallery

• 
  Saint George, 12th century
• 
  Pokrova (12-13th century)
• 
  Passion of Jesus (16th century)
• 
  Aleksandra Ekster, Three women's figures (1909–1910), oil on canvas
• 
  Mykola Pymonenko, Harvester (1889), oil on canvas
• 
  The Cossack bandura player (19th century), oil on canvas.
• 
  Serhiy Vasylkivsky

  , Cossacks in the Steppe (1900s), oil on canvas.
• 
  Abraham Manievich, Self-Portrait
• 
  Oleksandr Murashko, Selianska
• 
  Vasily Tropinin, Ukrainian man
• 
  The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (1729)
• 
  Hryhorij Djadtschenko, Portrait of a girl (1892)

References

Further reading

• Knjuh, A.T. (1966). "Aesthetic education at the National Museum of Ukrainian Art, Kiev". Museum. 19 (3): 160–163.
  doi:10.1111/j.1468-0033.1966.tb01618.x
  .
• Yavtushenko, Ivan Grigorievich (1982). "Museums in Kiev: an Overview". Museum. 34 (4): 140–149.
  doi:10.1111/j.1468-0033.1982.tb00384.x
  .
• in Ukr.: Національний художній музей України: Альбом/ Уклад., авт. ст.: Т.Рязанова, Л.Членова, О.Жбанкова та ін.- К.: Артанія Нова, 2003.- 416 с.
  ISBN 966-96256-1-0
• Kyiv Sightseeing Guide (2001)
  ISBN 966-7022-29-3
  .
• Yaniv, Sofiia (2010). "National Art Museum of Ukraine". www.encyclopediaofukraine.com. Retrieved February 26, 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Art Museum of Ukraine.

• Information about the museum from Kiev.info
• Official website (in Ukrainian)
• Information about the museum at the Museums of Ukraine website (in Ukrainian)