The nation as a framework for art historical writing the constructs of "Kyivan' Rus", Ukrainian Baroque, Ukrainian avant-garde

The proclamation (restoration) of Ukraine’s independence in 1991 was considered in the official narrative as a new stage of statehood, which easily fits into the ‘romantic scheme’ of the permanent state tradition (formed by M. Hrushevsky). First ‘Kyivan Rus’, ‘Rus-Ukraine’, and its successors – Halicia-Volyn state, Zaporizhian Sich, Hetmanate, and then in the Ukrainian National Republic unconditionally considered as Ukrainian states, the result of state aspirations of Ukrainians. A shared culture was seen as a factor in the nation’s self-preservation because, even in stateless times, it contributed to the consolidation of Ukrainians (Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Natalia Polonska-Vasylenko, Zenon Kohut, Ivan Ohienko, Dmytro Chyzhevsky). This article considers the foundations of this mode of art history writing and its different perspectives, analyzing the constructs ‘Kyivan Rus’ (‘Rus’-Ukraine’), ‘Ukrainian Baroque’, ‘Ukrainian avant-garde’.