The exhibition project is dedicated to two outstanding Ukrainians – the great visionary of Ukrainian culture Vasyl Krychevsky and his talented follower Oleksandr Saienko.

In the year of Krychevsky’s 150th anniversary and on the eve of Saienko’s 125th birthday, a creative dialogue between the master and his student will take place. The founder of the Ukrainian modern style and the representative of Krychevsky’s school will be presented through the story of their collaboration and the friendship of their artistic dynasties.

The exhibition will feature ornaments, interior sketches, samples of book graphics, and watercolors by Vasyl Krychevsky from the collections of the Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora and the Museum of Books and Printing of Ukraine. In a genre and thematic dialogue with the works of the master, Oleksandr Saienko’s pieces from his studies at the Myrhorod Art and Industrial Institute (1919) and the Kyiv Art Institute (1920–1928) will be displayed. These works vividly embody the main creative principles of his distinguished teacher: the pursuit of synthesizing folk and professional art, and the author’s interpretation of ancient ornaments.

In focus of the exhibition – the design project by Vasyl Krychevsky for the Historical Section of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (1928), in which he involved his student. The refined interior in the Ukrainian style was destroyed in 1932, but rare photographs with Krychevsky’s ornaments and Saienko’s panels, as well as Oleksandr Saienko’s watercolor sketches, provide an idea of the depth and scale of this work.

The project also presents works on the Shevchenko theme, which inspired both artists throughout their lives. Photographs of the Taras Shevchenko Memorial Museum in Kaniv from the 1930s immerse visitors in the dramatic history of creating the architectural complex by Vasyl Krychevsky with the participation of Saienko. Also on display are Krychevsky’s sketches for the drama “Nazar Stodolia” and Saienko’s watercolor portrait of Shevchenko.

The highlight of the exhibition is carpets based on Oleksandr Saienko’s sketches, developed in Krychevsky’s workshop. For the first time, educational compositions created by Krychevsky for students will be revealed, as well as his graphic works from the 1920s–1930s from the private collection of Nina Saienko.

“The exhibition tells about the continuity of Krychevsky’s tradition, the shoots of which managed to grow despite repressions and terror,” says exhibition curator, art historian Oksana Pidsukha. “The ideas crucial for national identity the Soviet empire tried to destroy together with the followers and even the memory of them. Therefore, the story of the master and his faithful student is extremely rare and valuable.”