In the eye of the storm modernism in Ukraine, 1900-1930s

29 November 2022 to 30 April 2023
Curators: #konstantinakinsha, #katiadenysova and Olena Kashuba-Volvach

The exhibition In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900–1930s presents the ground-breaking art produced in Ukraine in the first decades of the 20th century, showcasing different art trends from figurative art to futurism and constructivism. The development of Ukrainian modernism took place against a complicated socio-political backdrop of collapsing empires, World War I, the revolutions of 1917 with the ensuing Ukrainian War of Independence (1917–1921), and the eventual creation of Soviet Ukraine. The ruthless Stalinist repressions against Ukrainian intelligentsia led to the execution of dozens of Ukrainian writers, theatre directors and artists, while the Holodomor, a man-made famine of 1932–1933, killed nearly five million Ukrainians.

Despite the historical tragedy, Ukrainian art of the period lived through a true renaissance of artistic experimentation. In the Eye of the Storm reclaims this essential but little-known in the West phase of European modernism, displaying ca. 70 works in a full range of media – from oil paintings and sketches to collages and theatre designs.

Arranged chronologically, the show presents works by masters of Ukrainian modernism, such as Oleksandr Bohomazov, Vasyl Yermilov, Viktor Palmov, and Anatol Petrytskyi. Exploring the polyphony of styles and identities, the exhibition includes neo-Byzantine paintings by the followers of Mykhailo Boichuk and experimental works by members of the Kultur Lige, who sought to promote their vision of contemporary Ukrainian and Yiddish art, respectively. It contains pieces by Kazymyr Malevych and El Lissitzky, quintessential artists of the international avant-garde who worked in Ukraine and left a significant imprint on the development of the national art scene. The exhibition also features artworks of internationally renowned artists who were born and started their careers in Ukraine but became famous abroad – Alexandra Exter, Wladimir Baranoff-Rossiné and Sonia Delaunay.

In this most comprehensive survey of Ukrainian modern art to date, with many works on loan from the National Art Museum of Ukraine and the State Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine, the #museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza celebrates the dynamism and diversity of the artistic scene in Ukraine, while safeguarding the country’s heritage during the intolerable present-day occupation of its territory by Russia. After its presentation in Madrid, the exhibition will travel to the Museum Ludwig in Cologne.