Ukrainian Farmers

Sender: Prott

Ukrainians in the Paintings of Ivan Honchar.

Ivan Honchar. Ukrainians from the Podillia Region. Farmers in their traditional costumes of the late 19th - early 20th Century. c.1984. Canvas, tempera. 72 x 126 cm.

Prott wrote that according to the Ukrainian text at the back of the card, the people in the painting were bread-makers. I wonder what they were gathering outside for. Singing songs or listening to poetry recitals, maybe? I love the richly embroidered traditional clothes, especially the ladies' dresses, with their colourful layers and decorative headgears.

I read that Ivan Honchar (1910-1993) was a painter, sculptor and Ukrainian folk art specialist. He founded a museum because after fighting in WWII and witnessing the destruction of cultural values, he promised himself that he would devote his life to the preservation of cultural heritage of his people. He then started a project that would last almost 40 years, studying and collecting works of folk art such as folk costumes, musical instruments, paintings, earthenware, and unique historical and documentary photos of the late 19th and mid-20th centuries. 

Such a noble project, to preserve the culture of one's own country.