Initially constrained by the orthodoxy of the Imperial Academy, the arrival of art schools and public collections around 1900 led to rapid development. A tentative history.
Bohomazov
Able to develop distinctive movements, many of these artists trained in Ukraine under Ukrainian artists, and were part of the development of modernist painting.
Born near Kyiv, he started his training there. He quickly became a Cubs-Futurist, then a Suprematist. But he saw himself as Polish, and a member of both the Russian and Ukrainian avant garde.
A leader of the avant garde from 1914-30, he developed his treatise on art theory in 1914, and both painted and taught from it in Armenia and Kyiv.
From a Belarusian family, born in Poland, trained and launched her career in Kyiv, and built her reputation in Paris. Yet still served food in traditional Ukrainian ceramic pots and dishes.
A prolific landscape painter who taught key members of the avant garde. He was also a founding supporter of Kyiv Zoo.