Ukrainian decorative folk art

Ukrainian decorative folk art, rich in variety and originality of forms, has been developed in the course of many centuries.

Talented folk artists have executed a number of colourful and original works, imbued with impressive beauty and poetry.

The scope of development of decorative folk art was greatly extended in Soviet times. The working people of the Ukraine not only revived the finest art traditions of the past, but enriched them with new ideas and new forms. Ukrainian folk art becomes more and more an integral part of every-day life of Soviet people, rearing in them love for beauty. It has become an inherent part of multinational socialist culture.

The most propitious conditions for creative work by folk artists and the development of their individual gifts have been set up in our country. The time has long since passed when the folk artists remained nameless. The names of folk craftsmen are known far beyond the borders of our Fatherland — as, for instance, those of Ivan Honchar, Omelyan Zheliznyak, Dmytro Holovko, Katerina Bilokur, Hanna Sobachko-Shostak, Tetyana Pata, Marfa Tymchenko, Petro Verna, Vasil Svyda. Their works have gained great popularity and brought deserved glory for Ukrainian Soviet art. Many craftsmen have been awarded the honourable title of Honoured Folk Artist of the Ukrainian S. S. R. for outstanding achievements in the development of folk art.

The award of the T. G. Shevchenko Prize to one of the most eminent folk artist Maria Primachenko for her original works of folk painting from the series “For the Joy of People” is a convincing evidence of national acknowledgement and distinction of creative individuality in our times. Her success is the success of Ukrainian Soviet folk art.A vivid instance of the solicitude shown by the Communist Party and the Soviet Government for the flourishing of national socialist culture is the founding of the State Museum of Decorative Folk Art of the Ukrainian S. S. R. in Kiev. The purpose of the Museum is collecting works of art, past and present, their study and wide popularization among the working people, as well as the introduction of the best specimens into the production of art industry.

The State Museum of Ukrainian Decorative Folk Art of the Ukrainian S. S. R. is the youngest of the art museums of the Republic. It was converted into an independent museum from a branch of the Museum of Ukrainian Art in July 1964.

The foundation of the new museum was an important cultural event in the life of the Ukrainian People.

The collection of the Museum includes tens of thousands of unique works of art, such as colorful carpets and fabrics, diversified carvings, delicate embroideries, majolica ware of original shape and ornamentation, huta (blown) glassware with its rich traditions of craftsmanship, fine porcelain, folk painting, etc. Among the exhibits there are many specimens produced in the XVII — XIX centuries. But a particularly important part in the Museum collection is taken up by the works of Soviet artists.

The well-lit and spacious halls of the Museum enabled a convenient arrangement of the exposition which comprehensively represents the development of Ukrainian folk art.

The exposition of the Museum consists of two sections: folk art of the pre-Soviet period and folk art of the Soviet period. The entire exposition is built up of the following basic forms of art: carpet-making, weaving, embroidery, art carving, ceramics, folk painting, huta glassware, porcelain.

This booklet gives a brief description of each section of the Museum and the various branches of folk art, the most important works of art in the exposition, and tells about the creators of these works.