The National Art Museum of Ukraine is a museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 dedicated to Ukrainian art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

 in Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

.

Architecture

Constructed in 1898, by architect Vladislav Gorodetsky

Vladislav Gorodetsky

Vladislav Gorodetsky or full name Leshek Vladislav Dezidery Gorodetsky was an architect and big-game hunter, best known for his Art Nouveau-style buildings, namely the House with Chimaeras, the St...

, the building was originally designed as the museum for the local society of patrons of arts and antique lovers. The facade

Facade

A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

 of the building conveys a classic architecture form - precise reproduction of a six-column porch of Doric order

Doric order

The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...

 with entablature

Entablature

An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...

, triglyph

Triglyph

Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze, so called because of the angular channels in them, two perfect and one divided, the two chamfered angles or hemiglyphs being reckoned as one. The square recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric...

s, metope

Metope (architecture)

In classical architecture, a metope is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order...

s and frieze

Frieze

thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...

 decoration depicting the Triumph of Arts. The architectural composition featuring figures of gryphon

Gryphon

-Businesses:* Gryphon Airlines, an American-owned airline based in Vienna, Virginia* Gryphon Audio Designs, a Danish maker of audio components* Golden Gryphon Press, an American independent publishing company...

s and large concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 lions at the top of the stairs were created by an Italian sculptor, Emilio Sala

Emilio Sala

Elia Sala also referred to as Emilio Salya is an Italian sculptor known for his sculptural work with Vladislav Gorodetsky architect on the House with Chimaeras, the building of the National Bank of Ukraine and others in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.-References:...

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History

Originally called the Kiev City Museum of Antiques and Art, the founders set out to put together a collection of pieces representative of Ukrainian fine art. Ranging from medieval icon

Icon

An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...

s to portraits of military and church leaders during Cossack

Cossack

Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...

 times, some depicting caricatures of Mamay

Cossack Mamay

Cossack Mamay is a Ukrainian folkloric hero, one of standard characters in traditional Ukrainian itinerant puppet theater, the Vertep. Mamay eventually became the national personification of Ukraine and Ukrainians.-Review:...

. Present time famous artist works included those of Taras Shevchenko

Taras Shevchenko

Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko -Life:Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven...

, Ilya Yefimovich Repin

Ilya Yefimovich Repin

Ilya Yefimovich Repin |realist]]ic works often expressed great psychological depth and exposed the tensions within the existing social order. Beginning in the late 1920s, detailed works on him were published in the Soviet Union, where a Repin cult developed about a decade later...

, Vladimir Borovikovsky

Vladimir Borovikovsky

Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky was a Russian painter who dominated Russian portraiture at the turn of the 19th century.-Biography:Vladimir Borovikovsky was born Vоlоdymyr Borovyk in Myrhorod on July 24, 1757. His father, Luka Borovyk was a Ukrainian Cossack and an amateur icon painter...

, Vasily Andreevich Tropinin

Vasily Andreevich Tropinin

Vasily Andreevich Tropinin was a Russian Romantic painter. Much of his life was spent as a serf; he didn't attain his freedom until he was more than forty years old...

, Mykola Pimonenko, Mikhail Vrubel

Mikhail Vrubel

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel is usually regarded amongst the Russian painters of the Symbolist movement. In reality, he deliberately stood aloof from contemporary art trends, so that the origin of his unusual manner should be sought in Late Byzantine and Early Renaissance painting.-Early...

, Nikolai Ge

Nikolai Ge

Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge was a Russian realist painter famous for his works on historical and religious motifs.-Early life and education:...

, and Oleksandr Murashko

Oleksandr Murashko

Oleksandr Murashko was a Ukrainian painter.-External links:*...

 among many others.

After World War I, the museum also served as the Museum of History. One of the memorable expositions displayed an old trophy tank

Tank

A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

, which was lent by the Triple Entente

Triple Entente

The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....

 to the White Army

White movement

The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...

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After World War II the museum changed its name and exposition, and returned to what it's known now, presenting art. The collection began to grow, with Ukrainian art coming from all areas of Ukraine like Galicia. The directors obtained Ukrainian art from Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 and St. Petersburg, as well as Ukrainian artists living abroad in Europe and America. However, during Stalin's repression, this activity was seized, and a big part of the collection was dispersed and hidden.

During Ukrainian independence, the museum reached a status of international recognition. For the first time, its collections traveled outside of the country and were exhibited in The Netherlands, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, and Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

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Current exhibition

Today, the museum continues to expand its collection. Some new additions include a unique icon relief of St. George and works by the international Kiev born pioneer of Geometric abstract art

Geometric abstract art

Geometric abstraction is a form of abstract art based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always, placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective compositions...

 Kazimir Malevich

Kazimir Malevich

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich was a Russian painter and art theoretician, born of ethnic Polish parents. He was a pioneer of geometric abstract art and the originator of the Avant-garde Suprematist movement.-Early life:...

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The current exhibition includes over 20 thousand pieces. Among many are works by a now world renown constructivist

Constructivism (art)

Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th...

 Vasiliy Yermilov

Vasiliy Yermilov

Vasyl Yermylov was a Ukrainian painter, avant-garde artist and designer. His genres included cubism, constructivism, and neo-primitivism.-Biography:* Vasyl Yermylov was born 22 March 1894 in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine....

, and Cubo-Futurist

Russian Futurism

Russian Futurism is the term used to denote a group of Russian poets and artists who adopted the principles of Filippo Marinetti's "Manifesto of Futurism"...

 Alexander Bogomazov

Alexander Bogomazov

Alexander or Oleksandr Bogomazov was Ukrainian painter, known artist and modern art theoretician of Russian Avant-garde . In 1914 Alexander wrote his treatise The Art of Painting and the Elements...

. The Ukrainian side is represented by works of famous Ukrainian and Russian artists such as David Burliuk

David Burliuk

David Davidovich Burliuk was a Russian avant-garde artist of Ukrainian origin , book illustrator, publicist, and author associated with Russian Futurism...

, Aleksandra Ekster

Aleksandra Ekster

Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Ekster was a Russian-French painter and designer.-Biography:-Childhood:...

, Vadim Meller, Kliment Red'ko

Kliment Red'ko

Kliment Red'ko or Redko , 15 October 1897 - 18 February 1956) was a Ukrainian-Russian painter-scientist, avant-garde artist , graphic artist.-Biography:Kliment Red'ko was born in Cholm, Russian Empire....

 Solomon Nikritin

Solomon Nikritin

Solomon Nikritin was a Ukrainian painter, avant-garde artist , graphic artist, designer, and author.- Biography :Solomon Nikritin was born in Chernihiv, Ukraine.In 1909–1914 he attended Kiev Art School ....

, Victor Palmov

Victor Palmov

Victor Palmov was a Russian-Ukrainian painter and avant-garde artist from the David Burliuk circle.- Biographical dates :...

, Maria Sinyakova, Mikhail Boichuk, Mykola Pymonenko and many others.