Ukrainian Folk Artist Maria Prymachenko and the Cultural Losses of War

Maria Prymachenko, Our Army, Our Protectors, 1978

We are now witnessing a horrible war in Ukraine. The strength and courage of the people is incredible. I have been checking in with my teacher and contacts in Lviv. So far, they are ok!

Approximately 25 works by Maria Prymachenko (1909- 1997) were destroyed when fighting broke out northwest of Kyiv in late February. The Ivankiv Historical-Cultural Museum that held her work burned down.

Maria Prymachenko in 1936. Reproduced in Mariia Pryimachenko. Al'bom (Kyiv, 1994)

Her story: Maria embroidered as a girl and sold her pieces at the market. One day an artist from Kyiv noticed her work and invited her to join a workshop of artists who were preparing for the first Republican Folk Art Exhibition in 1936. Some of her drawings were then presented at the Paris International Exhibition in 1937. She met her husband while in Kyiv and they returned to Maria’s hometown where they had a son. Unfortunately, both her husband and brother were killed by the Nazis. Maria turned to embroidery again while working on the collective farm and raising her son in the post-war years, when she didn’t have the energy for painting.

Fifteen works, 7 7/8 x 11 3/8 in. each, depicting mythical animals and people, 1940, Sold at Christie’s, 4 Jun 2018.

Later she returned to painting, making larger, more colorful works and adding captions on the back of each piece. In many of her works (see Our Army… above and Spring Revels… below), the backgrounds are covered with rows of small, light-colored, horizontal or vertical lines, parentheses, dots, in the sky (clouds), and dark-colored – on land and water (grass, waves). The artist didn’t like large open areas of color– they seemed lifeless to her.*

Don't those small brushstrokes remind you of stitches? I wish we could see her embroideries!

Spring Revels of Hares and Birds, 1968, gouache on paper, 60 x 84 cm, National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art

Bird (1962) Reproduced in: Mariia Pryimachenko. Al’bom via The British Library European Studies Blog.

Photo of the artist via this link.

Maria was a prolific and celebrated artist, awarded honors by the Ukrainian government and admired by Chagall and Picasso. Nearly 650 of her works are in the collection of the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Art in Kyiv.

It is heartbreaking thinking about the history of the country, the death and destruction, and the many times that people had to bury their prized possessions, and flee. To support the people and preservation of culture, join me for the Ukrainian Curly Stitch Workshop on April 16. Proceeds will be donated to Razom, a US-based non-profit organization that developed out of the 2014 revolution.

May Ukrainians be safe. May the museums and the other cultural institutions in Ukraine be protected. May there be peace.

May I Give This Ukrainian Bread To All People In This Big Wide World (1982). Image via allpainters.org

Sources:

blogs.bl.uk/european/2018/02/maria-prymachenkos-fantastic-world-of-flowers-and-animals.html

*adamovskiy.foundation/en

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