Archive
2011 year, issue 5 read »
«Narodoznavchi Zoshyty» 2016 year, issue 4 read »
«The Ethnology Notebooks» 2019 year, issue 2 read »
2010 year, issue 3-4 read »

« 2026. # 3 (189)

The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 3 (189), 655—666

UDK7:069.5](73) Mercury:7.03(477)

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

ARTISTIC CANON AND PRIVATE INITIATIVE: CONSTRUCTING THE MERCURY ART CENTRE COLLECTION

PETRASHYK Volodymyr

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000­0001­5407­9357
  • Candidate of Art History, Associate Professor,
  • National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture,
  •  20, Voznesenskyi Uzviz St., Kyiv, 04053, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e­-mail: volodymyr.petrashyk@naoma.edu.ua

Abstract. The article examines the formation of the Mercury Art Centre collection as a coherent scholarly and curatorial project representing 20th­century Ukrainian art. It analyzes the role of private initiative in constructing the artistic canon and integrating works from key private collections (Larysa Hordynska, Dmytro Horbachov, Yurii Tsvengrosh). Particular attention is paid to works by Oleksa Novakivskyi, Oleksandr Bohomazov, Mykhailo Andriienko­Nechytailo, Yakiv Hnizdovsky, and Sviatoslav Hordynsky as representatives of different models of Ukrainian modernism. The importance of attribution, provenance research, and conceptual selection in shaping a coherent artistic narrative is substantiated.

Problem Statement. In contemporary cultural processes, private art collections play an increasingly significant role in shaping artistic narratives, preserving cultural heritage, and influencing the formation of artistic canons. The case of the Mercury Art Centre collection provides an opportunity to examine the mechanisms through which private initiatives participate in the selection, interpretation, and legitimization of artworks within the broader art historical discourse.

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to analyze the principles, strategies, and conceptual foundations underlying the formation of the Mercury Art Centre collection and to investigate its role in the construction and representation of the artistic canon within contemporary cultural space.

Methods. The study employs a combination of historical­artistic, comparative, and interdisciplinary approaches. The research methodology includes formal and stylistic analysis of artworks, contextual analysis of collecting practices, as well as institutional and cultural studies methods aimed at examining the relationship between private collecting initiatives and canon formation processes.

Results. The research demonstrates that the Mercury Art Centre collection represents a deliberate curatorial model that combines artistic value, historical significance, and contemporary relevance. The collection reflects specific criteria of selection and representation, contributing to the preservation and reinterpretation of national and international artistic heritage. It is established that private collecting practices not only reflect existing artistic canons.

Conclusion. The study confirms that private art initiatives are important agents in the construction of artistic canons. The Mercury Art Centre collection illustrates how collecting strategies can influence cultural memory, artistic valuation, and public understanding of art. The collection functions not merely as an assemblage of artworks but as a dynamic cultural platform that contributes to the ongoing negotiation and redefinition of artistic canon in contemporary society.

Keywords: Ukrainian modernism, private collection, artistic canon, Mercury Art Centre, O. Novakivskyi, O. Bohomazov, J. Hnizdovsky, M. Andriienko­Nechytailo, S. Hordynsky.

REFERENCES

  • Ovsiichuk, V. (1998). Oleksa Novakivskyi. Institute of Ethnology of the NAS of Ukraine. Lviv. ISBN 966­02­0149­4 [in Ukrainian].
  • Voloshyn, L. (1924). The Art School of Oleksa Novakivskyi 1923—1935. Life in the Perspective of Time. Lviv; Drohobych: Kolo Publishers [in Ukrainian].
  • Holubets, O. (2012). Art of the 20th Century: The Ukrainian Path. Lviv: Kolir PRO [in Ukrainian].
  • Horbachov, D. (2017). Ukrainian Avant­Garde of the 1910s—1930s. Kyiv: Mystetstvo [in Ukrainian].
  • Horbachov, D. (2020). Knights of the Hungry Renaissance. Kyiv: Dukh i Litera [in Ukrainian].
  • Sichynskyi, Volodymyr. (1934). Andriienko. Lviv: Association of Independent Ukrainian Artists [in Ukrainian].
  • Popovych, Volodymyr. (1969). Mykhailo Andriienko. Munich [in Ukrainian].
  • (1978). Andreenko. Album presente par Jean­Claude et Valentine Marcade. L’Age d’Homme [in French].
  • Berehovska, Kh. (2019). Sviatoslav Hordynskyi. Half a Century of творчість. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
  • Stepovyk, D.V. (2003). Yakiv Hnizdovsky: Life and Work. O. Olzhych Research Foundation in the USA. Kyiv: O. Teliha Publishing House [in Ukrainian].
  • Marychevska, O. (2013). «Painting of Yakiv Hnizdovsky: Epoch, Time and Man». Fine Arts, 1, 92—94 [in Ukrainian].
  • Skliarenko, H. (2010). Ukrainian Art of the 20th Century: Problems of Development. Kyiv: IMFE NAS of Ukraine [in Ukrainian].
  • Novakivskyi, O. (2009). Selected Works. Lviv: National Museum.
  • Bohomazov, O. (1914). Painting and Elements (reprint editions). Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
  • Andriienko­Nechytailo, M. (2005). Works and Archives. Paris; Kyiv.
  • Hnizdovsky, Y. (1980). Woodcuts and Drawings. New York.
  • Hordynsky, S. (1990). Essays on Ukrainian Art. New York; Lviv.
Our authors
Roman Radovych. Researcher, Ph.D. in History. read »
Babii Nadiia. DSc in Art Studies, Professor. Vasyl... read »
Oksana Sapeliak. Senior Research Fellow, Ph.D. in... read »
Herus Lyudmyla. Doctor of Sciences in History,... read »
Daily bread baking of ukrainians in the south-western ethnographical region at the late XIX to early XXI cc.
The paper has dealt with analytic study in prescriptions, signs, customs, methods, ways of selection, procurement and some peculiarities in usage of subsidiary means — water, firewood and leaves in bread baking. The final aim of the mentioned actions had been (and still is) selection of the means and ingredients fit, by their characteristics, for the backing of bread. The paper has demonstrated dependence of bread backing subsi­diary means criteria from the folk nutritional standards and world outlook stereotypes as well as from regional social and economic, natural and geographical factors and peculiarities of material culture.
Read »

Maternity ritualism by volhynians in publications of the second half XIX to the early XXI cc.
In the article have been considered some basic landmarks for fixing and publication of ethnographic materials on the maternity rites of Volhynia with analytical study in ritual elements, their kinds and territories of origin. The article has also raised a problem of gaps in studies of maternity rites of Ukrainian historio-ethnographic Volhynia.
Read »

Traditional folk clothes of velikobychkovsky hutsuly of XIX — the first half of XX century
In the study based upon numerous field materials, literature sources as well as ethnographic, historio-cultural and regional museum collections has been performed complex analysis in traditional folk clothes by Hutzul population of Velyky Bychkiv village in Transcarpathian region. Detailed descriptions of femi­nine and masculine clothing complexes of the mentioned area have been presented. In characterizing of those main attention has been paid to the detail of cut in separate components of dress; cut of feminine shirt has been added as an illustration.
Read »

Boikos’ pandemonium: categories of evil deceased
In the article have been presented some research-work on peculiarities of Boikos’ traditional demonological notions as for so-called evil deceased; on the basis of field records and ethnological literary sources quite a number of scum categories have been defined as well as essential habits, modes of behavior and functions of these personages of people’s demonology.
Read »