Iconic Ukrainian art: 5 famous Ukrainian paintings you need to know

Throughout its history, Ukrainian art has seen exceptional talent — artists who preserved and developed tradition and culture and those who broke barriers and boundaries of what art can be. These artists made Ukraine's art diverse — aesthetically beautiful and conventional, avant-garde and political, bold and visionary — and have left a lasting mark on the art world.

Explore the diverse and iconic Ukrainian art with Rubryka and its list of five famous Ukrainian paintings.

1. Black Square (1915) by Kazimir Malevich

You may be surprised to find out that one of the world's most famous and groundbreaking paintings, Black Square, is actually Ukrainian by no less Ukrainian artist Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935). In one of our previous articles, "Ukrainian art: Meet five famous artists from Ukraine," which also includes Malevich, we explained how Russia, as a true colonizer, has developed a liking for appropriating Ukrainian artists and their work.

Despite identifying himself as Ukrainian and having developed the breakthrough style of Suprematism by taking inspiration from Ukrainian culture, Malevich was wrongfully considered a "Russian artist." Suprematism, abstract art that focuses on primary geometric forms, takes its roots in geometric ornaments of traditional Ukrainian houses and decorated eggs, so its creator was, in fact, part of the Ukrainian avant-garde movement. His painting, Black Square, is the movement's iconic example.

2. Red Sunset on the Dnipro River (1905–8) by Arkhyp Kuindzhi

Arkhyp Kuindzhi (1841–1910), another Ukrainian painter Russia has tried to claim as its own, was fascinated with the mysticism of Ukrainian nature, which he rendered through the light effects in his landscapes. His ingenious ability to seize the light made him so famous during his lifetime that the exhibit of a single painting of a moonlit night over Ukraine's Dnipro River caused a sensation in 1882 and attracted thousands of visitors.

Nowadays, the son of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol (currently under Russian military occupation) is mainly known for his late artwork, Red Sunset on the Dnipro River (1905–8), exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This famous Ukrainian painting perfectly illustrates Kuindzhi's mastery of glowing up the scene and his love for Ukraine, its villages, and the great Dnipro.

3. Awakening (1992) by Ivan Marchuk

Ivan Marchuk (1936), one of the most renowned contemporary Ukrainian artists and one of The Telegraph's Top 100 living geniuses, has distinguished himself as a talented and unique artist since working in Ukraine under the Soviet regime. Because he refused to follow social realism, the official art style of the totalitarian state, Marchuk was persecuted, and his work was banned for over 17 years, leading him to the decision to leave and live in exile in Western countries.

What put the artist under ban in the USSR and brought him widespread acclaim and success worldwide is his recognizable and inventive technique called Pliontanism. In this technique, intertwined lines of paint form hyper-detailed and textured images. You can see it in his famous painting Awakening (1992), which Marchuk created in exile to celebrate Ukraine's independence, making it the epitome of iconic Ukrainian art.

4. Horse, Evening (2012) by Anatolii Kryvolap

Anatolii Kryvolap (1946), Ukraine's most expensive contemporary artist, became known thanks to his unique artistic style — the expressive use of bold and vibrant colors, which the painter considers central to iconic Ukrainian art, in depictions of nature. Though believed to be an abstract and expressionist painter, Kryvolap still includes recognizable elements in his art pieces, which makes them understandable for viewers.

The Ukrainian artist's paintings are now in top museums and private collections worldwide, but one brought him the most financial success and fame. Horse. Evening (2012), depicted in pure bright red, portrays the silhouette of a horse blending into a background. One of the most famous Ukrainian paintings was sold in 2015 at the Phillips auction in London for over $186,000, which set a record for Ukrainian art.

5. May That Nuclear War Be Cursed! (1978) by Maria Prymachenko

"Fantastic beasts and where to find them" — this is how we can describe the art of Maria Prymachenko (1909–1997), one of the most cherished Ukrainian artists. Entirely self-taught, Prymachenko earned acclaim and even a gold medal at the 1937 Paris World Fair thanks to her brightly colored, whimsical, and wildly creative scenes of lions, birds, oxen, and fantastical creatures of her imagination.

After seeing her paintings, Marc Chagall admired her "strange beasts" and called the beings in his art their cousins. Pablo Picasso was also moved by her pieces, saying, "I bow down before the artistic miracle of this brilliant Ukrainian."

Though considered a naïve artist, Maria Prymachenko's themes are far from naïve. Having lived through famine, war, and personal loss, she depicted the struggle of good versus evil in her art and often accompanied her works with anti-war messages. One of her most renowned works is May That Nuclear War Be Cursed! (1978), a famous Ukrainian painting showing a scene of a fantastic pink beast with two green snakes for a tongue.