Lecce, the city's Historical Museum hosts the exhibition “Unknown Ukrainian Art”.
From 28 January to 30 April, the Must – Historical Museum of the City of Lecce will host the exhibition “Unknown Ukrainian Art. From constructivism to socialist realism", curated by Snejanka Bauer, dedicated to the rich Ukrainian artistic heritage with a selection of 20th century works from the SAC, Soibelmann Art Collection.
It is one of the largest private art collections in Western Europe with over 6.000 pieces, whose main point of interest is Eastern European art, mostly from the former Soviet Republics. The collection includes numerous art objects documenting persecuted, Jewish, avant-garde, Ukrainian, Impressionist, Surrealist, Constructivist and Suprematist art, Socialist Realism, as well as non-conformist and propaganda art. To be preserved are works of popular art, including the prints called lubki and icons, as well as oil paintings, gouaches, drawings, sculptures, posters, books and ceramics.
Around 130 works by Ukrainian artists dating back to the first three decades of the twentieth century will be exhibited in Lecce. The investigation of the places of origin of many of these artists can be considered a sort of mapping of how the borders of Ukraine changed in the years before and after the First World War: some were born in Austria-Hungary which, after the war of 1918, it became part of the Ukrainian People's Republic, albeit for a short time, given that, just a year later, it was occupied by the Polish army, an occupation that lasted until 1920, when the Imperial Russian Army took possession of the same territory.
Particular attention will be paid within the exhibition by Must to Jewish artists, some of whom lived for some time in Paris, being part of the Ecole de Paris. Others returned to Soviet Ukraine, still others remained forever in France or emigrated to the United States or Israel. Many of them died in Nazi concentration camps and did not have the opportunity to develop their talent further. This exhibition is dedicated to the latter and to their memory.
«With the management of Must and the Culture office of the Municipality we have worked hard for months – declares the Councilor for Culture Fabiana Cicirillo - to bring to Lecce this exhibition which brings together little-known but of great collective interest works from one of the richest private collections in Europe, owned by the German Mark Soibelmann. We inaugurate it a few days after the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine which is causing hundreds of innocent victims and extensive damage to civil buildings and cultural institutions, such as museums, libraries and universities, as a sign of attention and awareness towards a country which is suffering an unjust attack that is also putting its artistic heritage at risk. But we also inaugurate it the day after the celebration of Remembrance Day because some of the artists on display have not been able to express their talent over the years having died in Nazi concentration camps. There are therefore many profiles of interest linked to the exhibition and we hope that this opportunity for knowledge can be a stimulus for everyone to always feel committed to the defense of art and against all forms of war".
From 28 January to 30 April, the Must – Historical Museum of the City of Lecce will host the exhibition “Unknown Ukrainian Art. From constructivism to socialist realism”, curated by Snejanka Bauer, dedicated to the rich Ukrainian artistic heritage with a selection of works from the XNUMXth century coming from the SAC, Soibelmann Art Collection.
It is one of the largest private art collections in Western Europe with over 6.000 pieces, whose main point of interest is Eastern European art, mostly from the former Soviet Republics. The collection includes numerous art objects documenting persecuted, Jewish, avant-garde, Ukrainian, Impressionist, Surrealist, Constructivist and Suprematist art, Socialist Realism, as well as non-conformist and propaganda art. To be kept are works of folk art, including prints called lubki and icons, as well as oil paintings, gouaches, drawings, sculptures, posters, books and ceramics.
Around 130 works by Ukrainian artists dating back to the first three decades of the twentieth century will be exhibited in Lecce. The investigation of the places of origin of many of these artists can be considered a sort of mapping of how the borders of Ukraine changed in the years before and after the First World War: some were born in Austria-Hungary which, after the war of 1918, it became part of the Ukrainian People's Republic, albeit for a short time, given that, just a year later, it was occupied by the Polish army, an occupation that lasted until 1920, when the Imperial Russian Army took possession of the same territory.
Particular attention will be paid within the exhibition by Must to Jewish artists, some of whom lived for some time in Paris, being part of the Ecole de Paris. Others returned to Soviet Ukraine, still others remained forever in France or emigrated to the United States or Israel. Many of them died in Nazi concentration camps and did not have the opportunity to develop their talent further. This exhibition is dedicated to the latter and to their memory.
«With the management of Must and the Culture office of the Municipality we have worked hard for months – declares the councilor for Culture Fabiana Cicirillo – to bring to Lecce this exhibition which brings together little-known but of great collective interest works coming from one of the richest private collections of Europe, owned by the German Mark Soibelmann. We inaugurate it a few days after the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine which is causing hundreds of innocent victims and extensive damage to civil buildings and cultural institutions, such as museums, libraries and universities, as a sign of attention and awareness towards a country which is suffering an unjust attack that is also putting its artistic heritage at risk. But we also inaugurate it the day after the celebration of Remembrance Day because some of the artists on display have not been able to express their talent over the years having died in Nazi concentration camps. There are therefore many profiles of interest linked to the exhibition and we hope that this opportunity for knowledge can be a stimulus for everyone to always feel committed to the defense of art and against all forms of war".
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