"Phenomenon of the Ukrainian Avant-garde, 1910 - 1935"
2002-02-14 until 2002-04-07
Art Gallery of Hamilton
Hamilton, ON, CA Canada

The Phenomenon of the Ukrainian Avant-garde, 1910 - 1935, is an exhibition that features works rescued from the Spetsfond (special collection), and have never before seen outside Europe. This exhibition explores for the first time a critical period in the history of Ukrainian art - the 1910s through the 1930s - and presents a body of work that is startling in its originality and remarkable in its internationalism.

Between 1937-39, some 2,000 works were confiscated by the Soviet government and placed in the secret underground vaults of the Spetsfond (special collection) created especially for works of art deemed harmful and ideologically hostile. Countless other works were destroyed, and artists were exiled, forced to flee, or executed. Works in the Spetsfond were not only deemed unfit for exhibition, their very existence was expunged from all records and even art historians were unable to view them. During the Nazi occupation of Kyiv in 1941, the contents of the entire Spetsfond were shipped to Germany. After the Second World War, only 300 works were returned. About a quarter of the works in the current exhibition are taken from the surviving Spetsfond works, while others are borrowed from the permanent collection of Kyivs National Art Museum of Ukraine, the Ukrainian State Museum of Theatre, Music and Film Arts, and from private collections.

This exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated trilingual catalogue.

The Phenomenon of the Ukrainian Avant-garde, 1910-1935 is presented by AIM Funds Management Inc., and is organized and circulated by the Winnipeg Art Gallery with financial assistance from the Department of Canadian Heritage, Museums Assistance Program. In Hamilton, the exhibition is generously supported by premiere sponsor Northland Power. Media sponsors are CH, 102.9 K-Lite FM, and Ontario Tourism. Admission to the Gallery - and this exhibition - is free, courtesy of Orlick Industries Limited.

IMAGE:
Fedir Krychevsky
(1978 - 1947)
Life (triptych panel Family) 1927

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