Ukrainian history knows many outstanding artists, and in this pantheon there are many names unknown to the general public. But if you go out into the street and ask passers-by to name the three most famous artists they know, the name of our today’s heroine will definitely be on the list.
Maria Prymachenko is a Ukrainian artist of the 20th century, a representative of naive art. Maria Oksentiivna was born in 1909 in the village of Bolotnia in the Kyiv region (located 10 km from the Chernobyl exclusion zone). To understand the context, Maria was born during the time of the tsarist empire, and she lived her entire conscious life in the USSR. She is the same age as Stepan Bandera.
Little Maria grew up in Polissia, learning the traditions of her land. As we would say now, the family was creative. But in the meantime, parents were engaged in crafts. Dad is a carpenter. He made fences, gates with carved pagan animal heads, toys for children. Mother, like many women of that time, embroidered. Grandma painted Easter eggs. They sang many times at home.
There is a legend about how Maria started painting. As a little girl, she herded geese and saw a strange bird that had lost its feathers. The girl followed that feather and saw blue silt (clay soil). She liked him so much that she couldn’t resist, picked him up and painted the house with blue flowers. Adults liked these flowers so much that her neighbors asked her to paint their house. Over time, her favorite characters will be birds, flowers and unseen animals.
Maria also did embroidery as her mother. Once, with embroidered towels, she went to a fair in Kyiv and there she met an artist who suggested her to develop her talent. After that, Maria Prymachenko got into the workshop at the Kyiv Lavra. There, Maria received an informal education. Because she will never have a full artistic education.
The style in which Maria Prymachenko will work is called naive art. For example, Henri Rousseau worked in this style in France. In general, this direction was quite popular at the beginning of the 20th century.
Naive art is characterized by simple forms and pure colors.
In Priymachenko’s animals, the border of the head and body is always defined, as in Paleolithic times. The animals are mostly good, but there are predators that are associated with war.
After 1986, she paints pictures about the Chernobyl accident.
The artist signs her works with separate phrases. One of them is especially relevant now: «May that nuclear war be cursed!».
The flowers in Maria Primachenko’s paintings seem to grow into a tree. This is a kind of tree of life that came from her mother’s towels and grandmother’s Easter eggs. It fills the entire space of the picture with ornaments. This is another feature of naive art.
Probably, Maria Priymachenko would have worked exclusively in her village in the Kyiv region and her talent would not have seen the light of day. However, the central government in Moscow was looking for some folk craftsmen. There was a desire to show that there are talented masters who do not have an art education. The idea was to destroy Ukrainian art education. But it did not succeed, instead, the fame of Maria Prymachenko went around the world.
Unfortunately, due to the harshness of life in Soviet times, Maria Priymachenko could not travel with her paintings. But her paintings were actively exhibited. In 1937, they were presented at the «Ukraine blooming» exhibition in Paris. There were also exhibitions in Warsaw, Montreal, Sofia, Prague and Beijing.
After the Second World War, her works were not exhibited for more than ten years. But, in the 60s, the artist received the Shevchenko Prize. In the 1960s, she began teaching drawing. The artist taught children to listen to nature. In general, Maria Priymachenko always said that she draws for people’s joy.
For her work, the artist used the most available materials: watercolor paints or gouache and Whatman. Brushes were often made of cat hair – known as koshatka, which are also characteristic of decorative paintings. Looking at her paintings in the museum, you can see a pencil drawing under a layer of paint.
The Museum of Maria Pryimachenko in the Kyiv region was damaged during the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine in March 2022. Fortunately, many paintings were saved by local residents. During 2022-2023, exhibitions of her works were held in Kyiv and Lviv, and collectors were selling her paintings at auctions and use the money received to donate to the Armed Forces. Maria Priymachenko’s creativity brings joy and benefit to people even after her death. She is undoubtedly one of the symbols of Ukrainian culture.
You can learn more about Maria Pryimachenko and other Ukrainian artists at the Kyiv art studio Lihtaryk.
У меня синдром Стендаля сегодня. Утром ходили в Падуанский баптистерий. Смотрели фрески Менабуя. А после обеда у нас было посещение каппелы Скровеньи. Теперь я понимаю , что сделал Джотто для мира. Очень меня все это впечатлило в живую. Привет передала.
Мир прекрасен. Падуя очень понравилась:) спасибо за лекции Света!
Lily Golovchak
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