“Society of the Independent Artists” is back to Ukraine for the first time since 1919
Exhibition of art works of Ukrainian avant-garde artists of the early 20th century opened at the National Art Museum on October 31
The project “Society of Independent Artists” is an initiative for bringing back to Ukraine a unique art collection, which was moved from Ukraine by a man from Odesa Yakiv Peremen in 1919. The organizers of the exhibition told The Day that thanks to the joint work of art critics and collectors it got a chance for a new life. In spring of 2010 a part of Peremen’s old collection (which consists of 86 paintings and drawings) was put up for auction at Sotheby’s and was purchased by the International Fund “Ukrainian Avant-Garde.” The first presentation of the collection took place in New York (US) past year and now Ukrainian audience gets a chance to see it at the National Art Museum of Ukraine.
Association of young artists “Society of the Independent Artists” based in Odesa carried out a revolution in the art world in the early 20th century. Teofil Fraerman, Amshey Nurenberg, Isaac Malik, Mikhail Gershenfeld, Izrail Meksin, Sigismund Olesevich, Sandro Fasini – followers of Paul Cezanne and Henri Matisse, cubists and fauvists. They were among the first who mastered the forms and facets of avant-garde art and presented a decent opposition to traditional painting of the “Society of South Russian Artists.”
Maria Zadorozhnia, director of the National Art Museum of Ukraine, said: “Without Odesa ‘Society of the Independent Artists’ the overall impression of the cultural life of Ukraine in the early 20th century would be incomplete. The paintings, filled with life, vivid feelings, and spirit of freedom, were purchased by a collector, public figure Yakiv Peremen and moved to Palestine, away from the destruction and persecution. Peremen not only saved the works of his talented contemporaries, the first Ukrainian avant-garde artists, but also created a collection that indicated the European trend in the artistic life of Ukraine…”
The exhibition “Society of the Independent” is a joint artistic project of the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine, and the Fund “Ukrainian Avant-Garde.” It takes place with the support of the Embassy of Israel in Ukraine and is dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Independence of the State of Israel.
