This one finally exposes our true colors. No more hiding behind progressive vocabulary; no more acting like we like only the obscure and unknown; no more posing as Kyiv’s alternative voice. This Best Of is definitive proof of just how conservative we actually are.
In our defense, the award is best museum, not best gallery, so only places with permanent collections were considered. And let’s face the facts, sometimes the experts are simply right. Besides, the Museum of Western and Eastern Art definitely has the most colorful history.
The collection was assembled around the turn of the century by a wealthy Kyiv couple Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko with the hope of opening a public gallery that provided a broad, eclectic selection of European art. In an act of good timing (or historical inevitability) they ceded the collection, including a building constructed specifically to house it, to the city of Kyiv in 1917, right before the Bolsheviks would have seized it anyway. Still, for good measure, after the revolution, the Bolsheviks stripped the Khanenko name from the museum, and only recently were they rehabilitated.
During World War II, about 700 pieces were stolen by the fascists, but many of the most famous pieces were successfully hidden. Now the collection has more than 300 paintings spanning from medieval icons to Dutch masters. Don’t expect anything as radical as the Impressionists, though. And 20th-century art is no where to be seen.
Unlike many staid museums in the West, where paintings hang on white walls and are cordoned off by a velvet rope, this cozy museum has paintings practically stacked on top of each other in places. Each room has a theme, and it’s worth the trip just to check out the well-preserved pre-revolutionary interiors.
Among the most well-known pieces are Diego Velasquez’s ‘Portrait of Infanta Margarita,’ Jakopo del Selao’s ‘Orpheus’ and Eurydice and Giovanni Bellini’s ‘Madonna and Child.’ Also impressive is the Green Room, which is done up to look like a gothic chamber and has some wonderful icons.
The scale of the Khanenko’s collection is refreshing. Unlike larger museums, this one is easily digested in a couple hours. It feels more homey than most. You never worry about getting lost or needing to rush to see all the ‘important’ pieces. An afternoon is plenty of time to savor the collection. There are even a couple of small rooms that are so intimate that you almost believe you are the first to enter in years.
The Museum of Western and Eastern Art stands out as probably the only noteworthy collection of Western art in Ukraine, or at least the most impressive. Not many museums in Ukraine get requests from foreign institutions for art work, but at the Museum of Western and Eastern Art, there is a waiting list for such deals. And so, even if it is a predictable, conservative Best Of, we believe that it can’t hurt to give a plug to this jewel of Kyiv. Check it out, you won’t regret it.
Museum of Western and Eastern Art
15/17 Tereschenkivska. Tel: 225-0225.
Open Wednesday – Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
