The Royal Castle in Warsaw has opened an exhibition of paintings from the National Museum of Arts named after Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko in Kyiv
Visitors will be able to see nearly forty canvases from the Khanenko Museum, reports Ukrinform.
According to the Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine Mykola Tochitsky, this exhibition is rich in symbolism.
“It is symbolic that the Royal Castle was destroyed and rebuilt. This serves as a demonstration to all Europeans of what it means to love and protect one’s historical heritage. It is also symbolic that the Polish nation did not hesitate for a second to help Ukraine in the first days of aggression,” emphasized the minister.
The main point he made was that with Poland's support, Ukraine has endured and is helping to show the world that “culture is important during wartime.”
The Minister of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, Hanna Wróblewska, noted that the Ukrainians are showcasing masterpieces of extraordinarily high artistic and historical value in this exhibition. She described this exhibition as “an act of solidarity and mutual support during this challenging period, which has become the foundation of unity between nations.” Art has always been a universal language that transcends geographical, political, and cultural boundaries.
“Today, as Ukraine fights for its freedom and future, we must remind the world that at the heart of this struggle is also the desire to preserve national heritage, invaluable testimony of history, identity, and human genius,” the Polish minister emphasized.
She assured that it is very important for the Polish side to assist in preserving these artistic masterpieces while also allowing Polish viewers to enjoy them.
The exhibition of 37 paintings titled “The Cabinet of European Art” from the National Museum of Arts named after Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko in Kyiv can be viewed in Warsaw from December 6 to March 30 of the following year. The exhibition at the Royal Castle in Warsaw is one of the events organized in connection with Poland's presidency in the EU Council, which will take place in the first half of 2025.
This exhibition, representing an important fragment of the European portion of the museum's collection, is the first large-scale presentation of the Khanenko works outside of Ukraine.
The collection, which was amassed by Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko since the 1870s, was intended to be accessible to the public and to educate through creativity, according to their wishes. It is considered the finest collection of foreign art in Ukraine. Bohdan Khanenko (1849–1917) was a lawyer, a sugar factory owner, and a great art enthusiast. In the late 19th to early 20th centuries, together with his wife Varvara, he gathered a collection of paintings, sculptures, and decorative-applied art, creating the largest and most valuable assembly of masterpieces in Ukraine. This collection can be compared to other major collections being formed at that time in Paris or Vienna.
As previously reported, on October 10, 2022, as a result of a series of missile attacks on Kyiv, the building of the Khanenko Museum was significantly damaged. Only thanks to the timely protection of the museum's exhibits by its staff, it was possible to avoid losses in the collection.
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