You're reading: Five cool Ukrainian coffee table books

Large colorful albums with beautiful illustrations look good in a home library and office’s waiting room. Ukrainian publishers have plenty to offer in that area, including books of Ukrainian art, photography and city views. Here are the Kyiv Post’s choices for five best coffee table books:

‘Ukrainian Icon. 11th to 18th century’

The book offers the collection of orthodox icons shown in more than 500 illustrations with captions in Ukrainian and English. The book is packed in a colorful case with a certificate confirming its uniqueness attached. The beautiful images enclosed of ancient icons give you a real feeling of the sanctity of Ukraine’s rich icon tradition.

Hr 1,200
Litera
11/61 Lva Tolstogo St.
234-7508

‘Ukraine: Country and People’

The album provides great insight into all aspects of Ukrainian  life, including farming, sports, festivals and holiday celebrations, and of course, includes a great collection of landmark photographs.

Hr 540 (Hr 1,600 in a leather hardcover)
Litera
11/61 Lva Tolstogo St.
234-7508

‘Pysanka. Ukraine’s folk art of pysanka.’

 

The album offers not only a full set of pysanka (Ukrainian Easter Egg) patterns from all over the country, but also explains the techniques  and the roots of ancient symbols used in pysanka art in different regions. Even though the language of the book is Ukrainian, the photos alone help to understand the art of pysanka.

$48
eBay
www.ebay.com/itm/Pysanky-Ukrainian-album-Pysanka-Folk-Art-Ukraine-/150402735028

‘Kiev 70s – 80s’

Quite a small book contains 200 pictures of Kyiv that were taken between 1970 and 1980 by local photographers. The book is one from the series of half a dozen albums that show photographs of Kyiv in different times. The unique photos show Ukraine’s capital both in ruins and during its glorious times, just how the city has been seen by its natives in the decades long gone.

Hr 280
Litera
11/61 Lva Tolstogo St.
234-7508
Hr 204
www.yakaboo.ua/ru/catalog/all/-191399

‘Impres­sionism and Ukraine’

The book offers a collection of impressionist works of Ukrainian artists that was first presented in Kyiv National Art Museum in 2009-2010 and shows the interplay of European art trends and Ukrainian art traditions.

Hr 384
Ye Bookstore
3 Lysenka St. (near Zoloti Vorota)
www.book-ye.com.ua/shop/product_10080.html
255-8855

Kyiv Post staff writer Daryna Shevchenko can be reached at [email protected].