Ukrainian Art in the Zimmerli Museum Collection: Stylistical and Regional Features

The purpose of this article is to examine the issues of collecting works of Ukrainian art in the context of world private and museum collections, in particular the Ukrainian collection of the Zimmerli Museum. The history of its formation, the nature of the collection, its directions, schools, and artistic and stylistic features of the works of individual artists are outlined. Research methods. The study is based on the methods of biographical, analytical, comparative, historical and cultural and art historical analysis of works of Ukrainian art from the Zimmerli collection. Results. The study describes the formation of Zimmerli’s collection of Ukrainian art, draws attention to the history of its formation, trends and schools, and analyzes individual artistic phenomena. Conclusions. Research into the issues of collecting Ukrainian art in a global context shows that the works of Ukrainian artists remained underrepresented in major world institutions for a long time, while at the same time they were often included in collections labeled as «Russian» or «Soviet» art. In this context, the Ukrainian collection of the Zimmerly Museum at Rutgers University (USA) is of exceptional importance as a systematically collected and conceptually presented array of Ukrainian art, which is not only identified as Ukrainian, but also represented in its own artistic, historical, and cultural autonomy. Thus, the Ukrainian collection of the Zimmerli Museum is not only an example of proper representation, but also a call for the consistent formation of a visible and recognizable Ukrainian artistic canon at the global level.