An exhibition titled “Ivan Marchuk. Museum Collections,” dedicated to the 90th anniversary of one of Ukraine’s most renowned artists, has opened in Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the exhibition and described Marchuk as an artist whose work Ukraine is proud of.
The exhibition opened at Kyiv’s Chocolate House cultural venue.
According to Zelenskyy, Ivan Marchuk is among the Ukrainian artists “whose творчість we admire and are proud of.”
“An artist who created his own style, his own technique, and more than 5,000 paintings, most of them about Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
The president stressed that Marchuk’s works have been exhibited around the world and focus on Ukrainian landscapes, legends, history, culture, and people.
Zelenskyy also recalled that during Soviet times the artist was prevented for decades from fully realizing his talent.
“For decades, the Soviet regime did not allow Ivan Marchuk to fully reveal himself, but despite everything he succeeded and continues to work for Ukraine and with Ukraine,” the president wrote.
Zelenskyy noted that Kyiv’s historic Chocolate House reopened for the first time since 2022 specifically for this exhibition.
The exhibition brings together Marchuk’s works from the collections of eleven Ukrainian museums. Its central section is the “Shevchenkiana” series, for which the artist received Ukraine’s Taras Shevchenko National Prize.
Ivan Marchuk is one of the most famous contemporary Ukrainian artists, a People’s Artist of Ukraine and a recipient of the Shevchenko Prize. He is known for creating his own artistic technique called “pliontanism,” characterized by intricate interwoven lines and multilayered textures.
In 2007, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph included Marchuk in its list of the “100 Living Geniuses.” His works are held in museums and private collections around the world.
