Мистецтво як пошук, свідчення і спротив: дві київські виставки забутих модерністів 1930-х
Art as Search, Testimony, and Resistance: Two Kyiv Exhibitions of Forgotten Modernists of the 1930s

Summary/Abstract: Two Kyiv exhibitions open a window into the turbulent artistic landscape of the 1930s, revealing how Ukrainian modernists navigated oppression and exile. While existentialist thought blossomed in France, Soviet Ukraine plunged into terror, forcing artists to choose between conformity and silent resistance. The National Art Museum of Ukraine’s project “Special Fund. New Research” uncovers works once condemned as “enemy art” and hidden for decades to save them from destruction, including pieces by Palmov, Burliuk, Lisovska, and others whose lives were often claimed by repression. These paintings, charged with subtle defiance, expose the tension between industrial utopia and human despair, capturing hunger, fear, and the looming shadow of collectivization. In contrast, the Khanenko Museum’s exhibition “Troubled Years: Artists from Ukraine in École de Paris” celebrates those who fled east-European catastrophes for the freedom of Montparnasse, joining a cosmopolitan circle that embraced experimentation while preserving Ukrainian identity. Featuring works by Sonia Delaunay, Hmelyuk, Hryshchenko, and others, the show restores forgotten names to art history and highlights resilience through creativity. Together, these exhibitions testify to art as search, witness, and resistance—a dialogue between survival and freedom across borders and decades.

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