Ukrainian art
Though Ukrainian art has always been an organic component of the East European culture, it nevertheless maintained a strong cultural identity, bearing many inventive features. In the early 20th century art of Ukraine had been drawn into the pan-European avant-garde movement. It served, in a way, as an outpost of this world tendency, granting the earth with the prominent artists, as Archipenko and Burliuk. It is Ukraine where their first impetus to creativity gained Malevich, Tatlin, Exter, and many others. Then it had shared the fate of other countries of former Soviet Union, and plunged into the process of creating of a new “big style” of Social realistic painting. Only in 60s it had started approaching to the world context anew, getting rid from the ideological, political and aesthetic tenets.
This process of the restoration of Modernist achievements and reconstruction of the radical artistic language was uneasy. It also differed from the similar processes in other Soviet Union republics. Unlike in Russia, where the Conceptualist tendencies had prevailed, the significance of this process in Ukraine consisted in the seeking for the new language of painting. Along with the formal experiments, Ukrainian artists tried to bring forth a fine emotional arrangement of their paintings that now had nothing similar to the Social realist pathos.
The real prosperity of the new Ukrainian art had started with the perestroika, and, especially, after the proclaiming of the independence in Ukraine in 1991. In the times of Soviet Union artists generally were leaving to seek for the recognition in Russia, Germany, USA. This process of “talent-drain” ceased after Ukraine became independent. Since 1987 alongside with the traditional painting, both realistic and abstract, in Ukrainian art had emerged all the radical forms of art - from transavant-garde painting to action, performance, installation, video-, body, and land-art. The situation in arts had changed thoroughly, moreover, not only in the creative, spiritual meaning, but also in more practical sense.
In Soviet times, it was possible for artists to earn a living due to the system of state orders, purchase and subsidizing of cultural sector. Since the beginning of the perestroika this system of state supervising of culture gradually disappeared, as did the procedure of governmental subsidies. Many private independent projects and organizations - artistic associations, private galleries, etc. have emerged. But in the conditions of transitional period, it turned out to be hard for art, especially for its avant-garde radical forms to become profitable and endure without state support or other forms of subsidies. The process of forming of the alternative source of sponsoring and subsiding from commercial organizations, independent foundations and so on had started just a couple years ago. Nevertheless there is no visible success in this area until now.
Followed along with this specific "struggle for survival" Sotheby's enters Ukraine in 2008 and the works of Ukrainian artists, as it appears today are the competitive art product. The emergence of professional art galleries and a variety of Funds 5 last years creates favorable conditions for the further development of the contemporary art market in Ukraine and its competitiveness in the future.
Roman Hankevych
Art Historian