But relations between two museums in Ukraine and France grow stronger

December 13 was the last day Kyivans and guests of the capital could marvel at a present made Ukraine by the well-known Balzac Museum in SachО near Tours. Now the collection is on its way to the point of destination, the French writer’s museum in Verkhivnia (Zhytomyr oblast), a place he had twice visited in the late 1840s. Beginning in the second half of January, the display will be open to the public at Zhytomyr’s regional history museum. In Kyiv, the collection was shown at the French Cultural Center since late November.

Among the items are seven copies of Balzac portraits made at different periods during his life and 14 original paintings. Also modern lithographs made with a 1830 printing press and caricatures of the last century. The SachО castle landscape convey the French environs where Balzac was born and which he loved all his life. Those knowing French could read about this in the brief excerpts from his writings made specially as presents for Ukraine, using the writer’s own printing press. Remarkably, even the paper was made using early nineteenth century techniques.

The central place in the exposition is occupied by a Balzac portrait made by Louis Boulanger for Eveline Hanska. The writer liked it so much he ordered a copy for himself. The original, once in Hanska’s possession, was kept at one of Kyiv’s museums until 1958 when it vanished without a trace. The copy ordered by Balzac was purchased by the French government. It is on display at the Art Museum of Tours. There is still hope that the original will be found.

Over the past several years the museums in SachО and Verkhivnia have established very friendly relations. The French museum was founded in 1951, thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of his director Paul Metadier. The one in Ukraine appeared a bit later, in 1959, also due to enthusiastic efforts, particularly thanks to Ivan Pavlyshyn, principal of an agricultural technical school which is still on the grounds of the former Hanska- Rzewuski estate, and his wife Liubov, head of the local library. Beginning in the late 1970s, Oksana Havrylenko volunteered to manage the museum. She is now its senior research worker.

The Day wanted to know whether Zhytomyr was prepared to receive the collection and called the museum director, Liubov Zhuravska. She said, “This precious gift from France marks the rejuvenation of a large literary- artistic exposition at the Balzac Museum in Verkhivnia. To accommodate the collection, we will have to ask the technical school to allocate another room. There the French exposition will stay forever, but before that it will be shown in Zhytomyr. We will contribute our original letter from Eveline Hanska to the great novelist, a register with an entry attesting to Balzac joining Hanska in marriage, and several other documents and articles as important from Baron de Chodoir’s collection (he corresponded with Balzac). This exposition will actually complete the Balzac Year which was quite eventful for us. It began in March when Pierette Dupoie, playwright, actress, and stage director toured Ukraine with her play “A Ball at Balzac’s.” Later, assisted by People’s Deputy Yuri Yekhanurov, we staged an open-air exhibit of Zhytomyr artists. It consisted of 100 works and was shown during the first Promethean Feast, from now on to be held every May 20, marking Balzac’s birthday. On the eve of the event, an international scientific conference was held, dedicated to the writer’s bicentennial. We managed to restore the plaster “a la marble” (as the celebrated author described it) in three rooms of the palace. With the aid of technical school students we tidied up the palace, outbuildings, and park. In June, the place was visited by French photographer Eugene Bavchar. Incidentally, his photo exhibit, Following Balzac’s Routes: From SachО Castle to Ukraine” is underway in Tours. In September, the main hall of the Verkhivnia Palace hosted Kyiv’s Suzirya Theater with their productions based by Balzac’s works.

All this became possible thanks to our cooperation with the French Cultural Center and its director Mark Sagnol. Verkhivnia is a unique monument of palatial-park architecture at the turn of the nineteenth century. It needs support, of course. The French Ambassador visited the place and said, “How can it be that two great countries, Ukraine and France, cannot help a small place like Verkhivnia?” We understand that under the circumstances we can count on little help, but we would be happy at least to have the leaking roof of the palace fixed. Still, we believe that with time Verkhivnia, this beautiful spot of Ukraine, we be reborn.