Russian troops nearly destroy works by the greatest Ukrainian artist of the 20th century

Maria Primachenko not only is she one of the great self-taught artists of the 20th century, she is an icon of Ukrainian national identity. Her fantastic paintings, praised during her lifetime by the likes of Pablo Picasso, are now found in some of the country’s most important museums. Her work has also been featured on postage stamps and her image is immortalized on commemorative coins.

But 25 years after his death, the Russian invasion is threatening Prymachenko’s legacy. Last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said several of the artist’s paintings were among those destroyed in a museum in her home region of Ivankiv, about 80 kilometers northwest of the capital Kiev, after an attack by Russian forces.

A video widely circulated online appears to show the flames engulfing the one-story institution, which had previously described Prymachenko’s work as “the pride of the museum”. His vivid, almost childlike depictions of flora and fauna – as well as farmers tending crops and plowing fields – were among the items initially considered lost.

But reports have since emerged suggesting that an act of bravery may have saved more than a dozen of his works from the fire. Indeed, the Maria Prymachenko Family Foundation, which manages the artist’s catalog and is managed by her great-granddaughter Anastasiia, believes that all of the museum’s Prymachenko paintings were rescued from the building by a local resident.

“A heroic man managed to get the paintings out of the fire,” lawyer Natalia Gnatiuk, one of the foundation’s partners, said by phone from western Ukraine, where he took refuge. “There are 14 of them, but they’re still not safe.” However, two pottery works are believed to have been destroyed.

CNN was unable to independently confirm this information. And while Gnatiuk said his foundation was in regular contact with the man, they have since lost contact as fighting continues in Kiev’s northern suburbs. She declined to name him or comment on the art’s possible whereabouts, fearing for their safety.

“After this war is over, this is the first heroic story we will tell,” he added.

“They hate our culture”

Prymachenko’s paintings are considered a prominent example of European “naïve art”, a term used to describe the work of artists without formal training. Born into poverty in 1908, the painter rose from humble beginnings to earn the prestigious title of People’s Artist of Ukraine in 1970, when the country was under Soviet control.

Although best known within his home country, Prymachenko’s work has been exhibited in cities across Europe during his nearly six-decade career. In 1936, after visiting an exhibition of her paintings in Paris, it is widely reported that Pablo Picasso said, “I bow before the artistic miracle of this brilliant Ukrainian.”

But while Prymachenko gained significant international attention, his work was firmly rooted in Ukrainian aesthetics. Having learned folk arts like embroidery and Easter egg decoration before starting to paint canvases in the 1930s, she was heavily influenced by Ukrainian craft traditions as well as folklore, wildlife and traditional motifs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent assertions that the country is historically and culturally part of Russia – a pretext for invasion – have led to fears that his military may seek to destroy examples of Ukraine’s unique artistic traditions. For this reason, Gnatiuk believes the museum in Ivankiv was a direct target, not a victim of collateral damage.

“I’m sure it was intentional,” she said. “It was the first building (destroyed in Ivankiv) and the task of the occupiers is to destroy our Ukrainian roots, destroy our Ukrainian culture – they hate that. And Maria Prymachenko is not just the symbol of Ivankiv or the symbol of Ukraine, but a symbol of the entire world today. I’m sure it was on purpose.”

According to Gnatiuk, about a third of the 3,000 paintings Prymachenko produced in his lifetime are found in Ukrainian museums, with the rest in private collections within the country. Kiev’s National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art has more than 600 of her creations in its 80,000-item collection.

Speaking via Facebook, Kiev museum staff told CNN they are “doing their best to save the collection”. Meanwhile, the International Council of Museums has urged the Ukrainian public to help protect cultural heritage, saying in a statement that it “invites members of civil society to contact their local museums to assist them, if possible, with ways and means of protecting its buildings and collections.”

symbol of hope

With news of the attack on the Ivankiv museum spreading rapidly around the world last week, activists and foreign arts organizations have sought to publicize Prymachenko’s work as an act of solidarity.

In particular, his 1982 painting, “A Dove Spreads Its Wings and Calls for Peace” – while not among those in the museum’s ill-fated collection – is gaining traction as a symbol of hope for the country.

in St. Louis, Missouri, artist Maria Carmen Knecht recreated the image as a street mural. Meanwhile, a group called Justice Murals projected an image of the painting, among a selection of other works by Prymachenko, on the side of a building in Oakland, California.

At a rally in San Francisco on Sunday, six artists and more than 100 attendees recreated the image as a 23-foot-wide mural outside the city’s Ferry Building. The message “Stop the war in Ukraine” was painted in blue just above.

“The Russian war in Ukraine is trying to destroy culture, so what we can do is make it bigger and global,” arts organizer David Solnit, who helped coordinate the latest initiative, said in a telephone interview. “They can burn the museum down, but we’re going to make it bigger and come back. It is a desire to show some love and solidarity to Ukraine.”

Depicting a white dove against a vibrant floral background, the painting communicates a universally recognized symbol and message specific to Prymachenko’s country of origin, Solnit added.

“It’s a global sign of peace, not war, but very traditional Ukrainian style,” he said. “The beauty of Ukrainian traditional arts has won over many people here.”