Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine 1900-1930s - 'a snapshot of an astonishing period of creativity in Ukraine'

Congratulations and thank you to Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum who teamed up with Kyiv’s National Art Museum of Ukraine to secretly bring dozens of Ukrainian 20th century avant-garde artworks and host an exhibition of those works.

The show, which is called 'In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine 1900-1930s', is quite simply knock out. It is the first comprehensive survey of Ukrainian modernist art in a foreign country and features some 70 or so paintings, ranging from figurative art to futurism and constructivism. By and large the artists featured in “In the Eye of the Storm” are not household names. The few that are—El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich and Sonia Delaunay —are more often referred to as belonging to the Russian avant-garde. 

Special thanks are also due to Kunsttrans and hasenkamp group for their bravery in transporting the artefacts from Kyiv to Madrid. The artworks left Ukraine’s capital city early on November 15, 2022, just hours before what was to become one of the worst days of bombing in Kyiv since the beginning of the war. The trucks were packed in secrecy to safeguard the largest export of Ukraine’s cultural heritage to date and faced a treacherous journey as they passed through areas of unexpected heavy missile fire, including the small town of Lviv and then on to the Polish Border at Rave-Russo, just as the missile that set the world on edge landed in Poland 50 km away. The convoy arrived safely at the National Museum Thyssen Bornemisza in Madrid on Sunday, November 21, and remains the largest legal art transport from a war-torn country to date.  

The exhibition’s first gallery is devoted to Cubo-Futurism, a fusion of the French and Italian styles that took hold throughout the Russian Empire in the 1910s and features Alexandra Exter’s “Bridge, Sèvres” (c. 1912) and "Three Female Figures” (1909-10).

Further sections include constructivist and Suprematist compositions by Borys Kosarev and Anatol Petrytskyi as well as Vasyl Yermilov’s dynamic designs for the Chess Room at the Central Red Army Club in Kharkiv (1920). A selection of vibrant 1920s set and costume designs from the Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema of Ukraine lies at the heart of the show.

The show is a snapshot of an astonishing period of creativity in Ukraine, all at a time of unimaginable political upheaval. With Russia once again embarked on a devastating mission to erase Ukrainian identity and culture, this important exhibition takes on a rare moral significance.

For those who can't make it to Madrid or Cologne, The Thyssen-Bornemisza have created a virtual walk through of the exhibition and Thames and Hudson have published a superb companion book. 

Highlights

Vadym Meller Sketch of the "Masks" choreography movement “Masks” for Bronislava Nijinska’s School of Movements
© Kyiv Museum of Theatre, Music and Cinema Arts of Ukraine