Kharkov Art Museum is one of the largest collections of works of fine and applied art in Ukraine. At least 25 thousand exhibits are stored in its funds. In our article you will find detailed information about the art museum in Kharkov, its paintings and exhibits.
A brief history of the museum
The art museum in the city of Kharkov has its history since 1920. Initially, it was filled mainly with church values and artifacts collected in rural churches and monasteries of Slobozhanshchina.
In 1922, the institution was renamed the Museum of Ukrainian Art and divided into three departments: sculpture, architecture and painting. In the latter, landscape, genre and portrait paintings of the 18th-19th centuries, as well as icons and samples of book graphics, were stored and exhibited. In 1930, the museum was closed, but already in 1944 it again opened its doors to visitors.
Kharkov Art Museum is located in an old mansion. The building was built in the classical style in 1912 according to the project of the famous architect academician A.N. Beketov. At one time, it was owned by the Kharkov industrialist Ignatishchev, the owner of the Ivanovo Brewery. The museum moved to this beautiful two-story building in the post-war period.
Kharkov Art Museum, Kharkov: general information and reviews of visitors
The museum is located in the old part of the city at the address: Zhen Mironosits Street, 11 (in the area of Architects Square). Here is a place on the map of Kharkov:
The Kharkov Art Museum is state owned and represents a significant collection of art objects from Ukraine, Russia and other European countries. In total, the museum has 25 halls. A separate room is reserved for I.E. Repin, an outstanding painter and illustrator of the second half of the 19th century, who worked in the style of realism. In particular, here you can see one of the versions of the famous painting "Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan."
The Kharkov Museum not only acquaints its visitors with the work of wonderful artists, but also conducts an active scientific and educational work. For example, about three dozen different lectures are regularly held in its walls. So, here you can hear about the work of Taras Shevchenko as an artist, or about the development of Ukrainian icon painting. The museum also has several theme clubs: the Wagner Partnership, the V. Goncharov Music and Poetry Salon, the Fermata Children's Aesthetic Club, and others.
Reviews about this museum are mostly positive. Many visitors note that here you can easily spend several hours of your time studying the numerous canvases of famous artists. Moreover, entry prices are more than affordable. Another nice feature of the museum is the possibility of free access to permanent exhibits on certain days of the month.
Kharkov Art Museum: paintings and expositions
In 25 halls of the institution are exhibited works of Ukrainian, Russian, West European fine art, as well as objects of decorative and applied and folk art dating from the 16th-20th centuries. Here, in particular, you can see the original works of famous painters - Ivan Aivazovsky, Karl Bryullov, Ivan Shishkin, Nikolai Yaroshenko, Ilya Repin. Kharkov Art Museum is proud of its rich collection of paintings by talented Ukrainian artists. Among them are the works of Taras Shevchenko, Petr Levchenko, Mikhail Berkos, Tatyana Yablonskaya, Fedor Krichevsky, Yuri Narbut and others.
The museum currently has four permanent exhibits:
- "Ukrainian and Russian art of the XVI - early XX centuries."
- "Western European art of the 16th-19th centuries."
- "Ukrainian folk art."
- "Collection of porcelain products of the XVIII-XX centuries."
Ukrainian and Russian art
The formation of this collection began at the end of the XIX century. The backbone of the future exposition was the work of Russian masters, transferred to the Kharkov Museum by the Petersburg Academy of Arts. Later, the collection was replenished through private collections of Kharitonenko and Filonov.
Among the true masterpieces of the Kharkov Museum are rare icons of the Volyn school dating from the 16th century. In their plots and manner of design, traits of the Italian Renaissance are clearly traced.
The main pearl of the collection is the painting “Cossacks”, owned by Ilya Repin. Another invaluable exhibit is a multi-figure painting by Heinrich Semiradsky, a Polish painter of Ukrainian origin, entitled “Isaurian Pirates Selling Their Prey” (1880). On this canvas, you can see antique objects (Persian carpets, filigree, ceramics) from the artist's personal collection. No less interesting is the work “Caucasus Mountains” (1879) of the famous Russian marine painter Lev Lagorio, one of Aivazovsky’s students.
Western European art
The museum has collected a rich collection of European art, which allows you to trace the development of painting in art schools in various countries of Western Europe (France, Italy, Holland, Germany) for four centuries. This collection features works by Timoteo Vitti, Bartolomeo Manfredi, Guido Reni, Friedrich Nerl, Jan Skorel and other masters.
Of particular value in this exposition are portrait works of Ferdinand Bol (one of Rembrandt's students), everyday paintings by David Teniers, landscapes of Albert Cape, floral still lifes of Abraham Mignon.
Ukrainian folk art
This exhibition presents the main directions of folk art: pottery, embroidery, wood carving, weaving, weaving from vines. The key place in the collection belongs to the “rushnyks”, who have long decorated Ukrainian huts. For many centuries, he was an integral attribute of a variety of rites, holidays, family celebrations.
In total, the collection of folk art of the Kharkov Art Museum has over 12 thousand different exhibits. Among them are numerous works by contemporary folk craftsmen and craftsmen. So, the visitors are attracted by the multicolored works from Nadezhda Ostrovskaya’s beads, Galina Volovik’s straw products, as well as crafts from Yevgeny Pilenkov’s vine.
Porcelain collection
Fans of porcelain should also visit the Kharkov Art Museum. His collection contains about five hundred figures, sculptural compositions and decorative items made of "white gold" by craftsmen from England, France, Italy and the Russian Empire.
The museum presents products of the Imperial (Leningrad), Dmitrov, Dulevo, Riga, Polonsky, Korosten porcelain factories. Of great interest in the collection is the so-called “propaganda porcelain” of the 30s and 40s of the last century, which brought communist and proletarian symbolism to the decorative painting of products.
Museum work schedule, prices, excursions
The Art Museum in Kharkov is open from 10:00 to 17:40, the day off is Tuesday. The price of admission for adults is 10 hryvnia, for pupils and students - 5 hryvnia. For the possibility of photographing, you need to purchase a separate ticket, the cost of which is 30 hryvnias (! 1 hryvnia is 2.3 rubles). Please note that photographing with a flash in the museum is strictly prohibited.
In the museum you can order a sightseeing or thematic tour, which lasts about 45 minutes. Its cost for adults is 30 hryvnias, and for students and schoolchildren - 20 hryvnias. Tours must be booked in advance. You can also use the free audio guide, which is available in Ukrainian and English, in the Ukrainian and Russian Art of the 16th – early 20th Centuries department.
