The paintings by Kazimir Malevich and Ilya Repin from the collection of the Kharkiv Art Museum were included in the State Register of National Cultural Heritage.
According to the information published on the website of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, the Expert Fund Commission has resumed its activities after a long break. The first meeting was held on December 30, and it resulted in the inclusion of 11 unique museum objects from the collections of four Ukrainian museums in the State Register of National Cultural Heritage.
Among the items included in the register are works by two prominent Ukrainian artists: Kazimir Malevich and Ilya Repin.
Painting “Suprematism 65” by Kazimir Malevich
The State Register includes the work by Kazimir Malevich “Suprematism-65 ” from the collection of the Kharkiv Art Museum. This painting is a prominent example of the Suprematist style, which Malevich founded in 1915. The artist’s childhood was spent in a Ukrainian village, which influenced his artistic outlook.
Kazimir Malevich was born in Kyiv, his father was Polish and his mother was Ukrainian from Poltava. Malevych was the first artist to depict the Holodomor in his work (for example, the painting “Where Hammer and Sickle, There is Death and Hunger”). In 1930, during his arrest, he wrote “Ukrainian” in the “nationality” column with his own hand. Today, his works are identified as a heritage of Ukrainian art.
Another work included in the State Register is “Cossacks Writing a Letter to the Turkish Sultan ” from the collection of the Kharkiv Art Museum. Ilya Repin was fascinated by the history of the Zaporozhian Sich, considering the Cossacks to be the embodiment of freedom and brotherhood.
Born in Ukraine, Repin acquired his first skills in painting icons in the churches of Sloboda Ukraine. His love for his homeland was manifested in his work and life: at his own request, the artist was buried near the Chuhuiv Mountain, not far from his hometown.
Aprakos Gospel of 1707
The State Register also includes the Aprakos Gospel of 1707, printed in the Kyiv Cave Monastery. This artifact from the collection of the M.F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum is an example of a unique illustrated old book that became a prominent project of Ukrainian book publishing before the nineteenth century.