Maria Prymachenko#Loss of works

Prymachenko was born to a peasant family and spent the majority of her life in the village of Bolotnia, currently in Vyshhorod Raion, Kyiv Oblast, situated only {{convert|30|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} from Chornobyl.Pryimachenko Maria, Sixteen Paintings in the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Art, Shown On A Set of Sixteen Color Postcards Published By Aurora Art Publishers, Leningrad, 1979, "Art Ukraine" site She attended school for four years, before contracting polio, leaving her with a physical impairment, which impacted her life and art.{{Cite web |title=Maria Prymachenko's fantastic world of flowers and animals |url=https://blogs.bl.uk/european/2018/02/maria-prymachenkos-fantastic-world-of-flowers-and-animals.html |access-date=1 March 2022 |website=blogs.bl.uk |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Halder |first1=Santoshi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTGLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA91 |title=Inclusion, Equity and Access for Individuals with Disabilities: Insights from Educators across World |last2=Argyropoulos |first2=Vassilios |date=2 March 2019 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-981-13-5962-0 |language=en}} She described her first artistic experiments in later life: "Once, as a young girl, I was tending a gaggle of geese. When I got with them to a sandy beach, on the bank of the river, after crossing a field dotted with wild flowers, I began to draw real and imaginary flowers with a stick on the sand… Later, I decided to paint the walls of my house using natural pigments. After that I've never stopped drawing and painting."

During childhood, Prymachenko's mother taught her embroidery, and by the late 1920s or early 1930s she was a member of the Ivankiv Co-operative Embroidery Association. Her talent was recognised by the artist Tetiana Floru, who invited Prymachenko to work at the Central Experimental Workshop of the Kyiv Museum of Ukrainian Art in 1935.

In Kyiv, Prymachenko underwent two operations, which enabled her to stand unaided. Also, she met her partner, Vasyl Marynchuk, there. In March 1941, their son {{ill|Fedir Prymachenko|uk|Примаченко Федір Васильович}} was born in Kyiv. She and Marynchuk did not have time to get married before he went to war; he did not return,{{cite magazine|last=Bengal|first=Rebecca|date=1 March 2022|title=Russian Forces Destroyed the Wild and Beautiful Art of Maria Prymachenko|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/russian-forces-destroyed-the-wild-and-beautiful-art-of-ukrainian-painter-maria-prymachenko/|website=Vice|access-date=2 March 2022}} dying in Finland. Prymachenko's brother was killed by the Nazis. She returned to Ivankiv and worked on a collective farm. Fedir also became a folk artist and a master of naiveté; he died in 2008. Prymachenko's grandsons Petro and Ivan also became artists.{{Cite web|title=75 років від дня народження Федора Васильовича Примаченка (Приймаченко) (1941–2008), майстра народного декоративного розпису. Народився на Київщині — Славутицька бібліотека|url=http://slavutichlib.com.ua/kalendar/eventdetail/176/-/75-rokiv-vid-dnia-narodzhennia-fedora-vasylovycha-prymachenka-pryimachenko-1941-2008-maistra-narodnoho-dekoratyvnoho-rozpysu-narodyvsia-na-kyivshchyni|website=slavutichlib.com.ua|language=Ukrainian|access-date=2 March 2022}}

File:Pryjmachenko 01.jpgFile:Pryjmachenko 02.jpgFile:Марка Синій бик -1.jpgFile:Stamp of Ukraine ua202cvs.jpg

The 1936 First Republican Exhibition of Folk Art featured Prymachenko's paintings. This exhibition was shown in Moscow, Leningrad, and Warsaw. Prymachenko was awarded a first-degree diploma for participating in this exhibition of folk art. In 1937, the artist's works were exhibited in Paris.

Prymachenko's works were inspired by Ukrainian, and in particular Polesian, folk traditions. They include references to the natural world and to fairy-tales.{{Cite web |title=Prymachenko Maria |url=http://en.uartlib.org/ukrainian-artists/prymachenko-maria/ |access-date=1 March 2022 |website=Ukrainian Art Library |language=en-US}}Kolisnyk, O. V., and M. O. Kovalenko. "Naive art: features of creative perception." Art and Design (2021). During the 1930s, she made a transition from embroidery to painting, and her works from this period are painted onto white backgrounds. Her bold and expressive linework was developing and she was combining traditional Ukrainian motifs in new ways.

During the 1960s to 1980s, her style continued to develop, with paintings having an increasingly vibrant colour palette and a new choice of bright backgrounds for her works. At this time she moved from working in watercolour to working in gouache. In the 1970s, Prymachenko also began to include short phrases or proverbs on the reverse of her canvases, which related to the topic of the work.

In 1966, Prymachenko was awarded the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared that 2009 was the year of Prymachenko.{{cite news |author=Vivienne Chow |date=28 February 2022 |title=Russian Forces Burned Down a Museum Home to Dozens of Works by Ukrainian Folk Artist Maria Prymachenko |work=Artnet |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/maria-prymachenko-ukraine-russia-2078634}}[http://en.uartlib.org/ukrainian-artists/prymachenko-maria/ Maria Prymachenko] at Ukrainian Art Library. [Accessed 2 March 2021]. The same year, the Likhachev boulevard in Kyiv was renamed in her honour.

Pablo Picasso once said, after visiting a Prymachenko exhibition in Paris, "I bow down before the artistic miracle of this brilliant Ukrainian."{{Cite web |last=Bengal |first=Rebecca |date=2022-03-01 |title=Russian Forces Destroyed the Wild and Beautiful Art of Maria Prymachenko |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/russian-forces-destroyed-the-wild-and-beautiful-art-of-ukrainian-painter-maria-prymachenko/ |access-date=2023-11-17 |website=Vice |language=en}}{{Cite web |last1=Kemp |first1=Kit |last2=Bond |first2=Will |date=2022-03-11 |title=The Art of Ukraine |url=https://kitkemp.com/the-art-of-ukraine/ |access-date=2023-11-17 |website=Kit Kemp |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=White |first=Katie |date=2022-03-15 |title=Ukrainian Artist Maria Prymachenko's Fantastical Visions Have Captivated the World—Here Are 3 Key Insights Into Her Life and Work |url=https://news.artnet.com/news/maria-prymachenko-3-things-2083134 |access-date=2023-11-17 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}

File:Marii Pryimachenko blv, Kyiv.jpg]]

Prymachenko's compositions were exhibited all over the former Soviet Union, Ukraine and other countries, including Poland, Bulgaria, France and Canada.100th anniversary of the birth of Maria Primachenko, painter (1908–1997), Unesco Portal, year 2008 Over 650 of Prymachenko's works are held in the collection of the National Folk Decorative Art Museum. Her painting Rat on a Journey was copied by the famous Finnish designer Kristina Isola to a fabric design Folks in the Woods, which was also used by Finnair for aircraft décor.{{Cite web |date=29 May 2013 |title=Daily: Marimekko print copied from Ukrainian folk artist |url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/daily_marimekko_print_copied_from_ukrainian_folk_artist/6663563 |access-date=2 March 2022 |website=News}} Her work is featured on stamps and coins from Ukraine.{{Cite book |last=Kosinski |first=Tomasz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u3BOBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 |title=Coins of UKRAINE 1901–2014: Coins of Europe Catalog 1901–2014 |date=18 August 2014 |publisher=Tomasz Kosinski}} In 2019, the Odesa artist Stepan Ryabchenko dedicated his work to the work of Maria Prymachenko, combining her and his heroes in a large-scale panorama Dzherelo, which is located in Kyiv, at 5 Georgii Kirpa Street.{{Cite web |date=2020-07-02 |title=Степан Рябченко присвятив роботу видатній українській художниці Марії Примаченко {{!}} ArtsLooker |url=https://artslooker.com/stepan-ryabchenko-prisvyativ-robotu-vidnii-ukrainskii-khudozhnitsi-marii-primachenko/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702020100/https://artslooker.com/stepan-ryabchenko-prisvyativ-robotu-vidnii-ukrainskii-khudozhnitsi-marii-primachenko/ |archive-date=2 July 2020 |access-date=2022-10-29}}

In 2022 the Ukrainian House in Kyiv held a unique art exhibition called “Maria Paints”.{{Cite web |last=Klitina |first=Aleksandra |title='Maria Paints' -–Previously Unknown Works by Maria Prymachenko Exhibited in Kyiv |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/post/19225 |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=Get the Latest Ukraine News Today - KyivPost |language=en}} It consisted of 100 previously Unknown Works by Maria Prymachenko from the private collection of the famous Kyiv art critic, Eduard Dymshyts.{{Cn|date=June 2025}} Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Prymachenko painting Flowers grew near the fourth power unit was sold at a charity auction organized by the Serhiy Prytula Charitable Foundation for $500,000.{{Cite web |date=2022-05-05 |title=Maria Prymachenko painting sells for $500,000, proceeds to go to Ukraine's Armed Forces. |url=https://kyivindependent.com/maria-primachenko-painting-sells-for-500000-proceeds-to-go-to-ukraines-armed-forces/ |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=The Kyiv Independent |language=en}} The painting is from Prymachenko's Chernobyl series.{{Cite web |title=Odessa Journal {{!}} Main |url=https://odessa-journal.com/public/public/maria-prymachenkos-painting-from-the-chernobyl-series-was-sold-at-auction-for-500000 |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=odessa-journal.com |language=en}}

In October 2023 - April 2024, Maria Prymachenko's works are exhibited at The Ukrainian Museum in New York.{{Cite web |title=Maria Prymachenko: GLORY TO UKRAINE |url=https://www.theukrainianmuseum.org/maria-prymachenko/ |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=www.theukrainianmuseum.org}} It features over 100 paintings, unique ceramic works, bespoke embroidered blouses, wooden plates, and several children’s illustration books. It is the first exhibition of Prymachenko’s art outside of Europe. In November 2024, the exhibition Dvi Marii was opened in the National Reserve "Sophia of Kyiv", which was dedicated to the work of two artists of naïve art – Maria Prymachenko and Mariia Halushko.{{cite news |author=Валентина Самченко |title=Дві Марії з диво-звірями: у Софії Київській експонують українського кота в чоботях і весільні типажі |url=https://umoloda.kyiv.ua/number/3936/164/186841/ |work=Україна молода |date=2024-12-04 |access-date= }}{{cite news |author= |title=У Києві відкрилася виставка невідомих робіт Марії Примаченко та Марії Галушко |url=https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-culture/3930050-u-kievi-vidkrilasa-vistavka-nevidomih-robit-marii-primacenko-ta-marii-galusko.html |work=Укрінформ |date=2024-11-22 |access-date= }}

In 1998, the minor planet (142624) Prymachenko was named by Klim Churyumov in her honour.{{Cite book |last=Schmadel |first=Lutz D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aeAg1X7afOoC&pg=PA873 |title=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |date=10 June 2012 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-29718-2}}

The Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum, where several works by Prymachenko were held, was burned after a deliberate attack on a museum{{Cite news|title=How Ukrainians are saving art during the war |newspaper=Vox |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltwCjFp9B8s?t=41}} during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the reported loss of 25 of her works.{{Cite web |last=Giorgobiani |first=Natia |date=28 February 2022 |title=A museum with unique works by Maria Primachenko burned down near Kiev |url=https://www.perild.com/2022/02/28/a-museum-with-unique-works-by-maria-primachenko-burned-down-near-kiev/ |website=www.perild.com |access-date=28 February 2022 |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228132136/https://www.perild.com/2022/02/28/a-museum-with-unique-works-by-maria-primachenko-burned-down-near-kiev/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |title=Оккупанты сожгли музей в Иванкове, сгорели работы Марии Приймаченко |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2022/02/28/7326669/ |website=Украинская правда}}{{Cite news |title=Україна втратила понад 20 робіт Марії Примаченко внаслідок нападу Росії – Литовченко |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-ukrajina-vtratyla-ponad-20-robit-mariji-prymachenko/31727384.html |website=Радіо Свобода|date=28 February 2022 |last1=Свобода |first1=Радіо }} However, according to a social media post by journalist Tanya Goncharova, local people were able to save some of Prymachenko's works from the fire.{{Cite web |title=Картини Приймаченко врятовано. Селяни винесли їх з палаючого музею. Еспресо.Захід |url=https://zahid.espreso.tv/kartini-priymachenko-vryatovano-selyani-vinesli-ikh-z-palayuchogo-muzeyu |access-date=2 March 2022 |website=zahid.espreso.tv |language=uk}} According to an interview with Prymachenko's great-granddaughter, Anastasiia Prymachenko, in The Times, ten of her works were saved by a local man who entered the museum whilst it was on fire.{{Cite news |last=Schofield |first=Blanca |title=Russia-Ukraine war: How Maria Prymachenko's art was saved from Putin's troops |newspaper=The Times |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-ukraine-war/article/russia-ukraine-war-how-maria-prymachenkos-art-was-saved-from-putins-troops-jf9mlk9xk |access-date=5 March 2022 |issn=0140-0460}}

Vlada Litovchenko, director of the Vyshhorod Historical and Cultural Reserve, noted that the museum was home to not only Prymachenko's works, but to other Ukrainian artists, such as Hanna Veres, as well; she stated: "Another one of the irreparable losses of the historical-cultural authority of Ukraine is the destruction of the Ivankiv Historical-Cultural Museum by the aggressor in these hellish days for our country."

File:Maria Prymachenko.png

• Yuriy Khimich (1928–2003)

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

{{wikiquote}}

• [https://www.prymachenko.com.ua/en/ Prymachenko family foundation website]
• [https://www.instagram.com/prymachenko_foundation/ Prymachenko family foundation Instagram]
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711180846/http://www.artukraine.com/paintings/pryimachenko.htm |date=11 July 2012 |title=Works of Maria Primachenko on "Art Ukraine" site }} {{in lang|en}}
• [http://en.uartlib.org/books/a-set-of-postcards-by-maria-primachenko/ A set of postcards by Maria Primachenko. Leningrad, Aurora Art Publishers, 1979.]
• [http://uartlib.org/allbooks/meine-welt-maria-prymatschenko-malerei-wiktor-maruschtschenko-fotografie-katalog/ "Meine Welt". Maria Prymatschenko — Malerei. Wiktor Maruschtschenko — Fotografie. Katalog Berlin, Kommunale Galerie, 2000.]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbTBceEWNyw Maria Prymachenko | Women of Soviet Ukrainian Naïve Art | by Alisa Lozhkina] 14 March 2024, Ukrainian Institute on youtube

{{1966 Shevchenko National Prize}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prymachenko, Maria}}

Category:1909 births

Category:1997 deaths

Category:People from Vyshhorod Raion

Category:People from Radomyslsky Uyezd

Category:Naïve painters

Category:20th-century Ukrainian painters

Category:Recipients of the Shevchenko National Prize

Category:Ukrainian embroiderers

Category:Recipients of the National Legend of Ukraine

Category:20th-century Ukrainian women painters