The beauty of Ukrainian lands. How the painters depicted Ukraine in the past

Ukraine was a popular location for painters to depict during the past centuries.

The landscapes of Ukraine have been an inspiration for many generations of artists, especially during the period when the Imperial Academy of Arts featured some of the greatest landscape painters as its students.

The diverse nature and views often became the motifs for the local and foreign painters. The mountains, the rivers, and the never-ending steppes — every feature of the Ukrainian lands has been featured in the beautifully done, well-detailed paintings. Some of the artists who created these works are widely renowned as one of the greatest in their craft. 

Apple blossom. In Little Russia (1895) by Nikolay Sergeyev

Born in Kharkiv, Sergeyev traveled a lot around Ukrainian lands to portray its peaceful rural landscapes. The name of this particular painting derives from the historical term that first appeared in the 14th-century records. Back then, some of the rulers named themselves the Kings of Little Rus (Ukrainian lands). This term later was introduced in the Russian language and was widely used during the Russian Empire era.

Sergeyev depicts a typical 19th-century Ukrainian countryside. His work reminds some of the finest examples of Romanticism period art — the admiration of nature and its calming beauty. There are no human figures featured in this painting, just views of the rural houses and blossoming cherry trees.

Harvest in Ukraine (1880) By Volodymyr Orlovsky

Ukraine has always been a major producer of wheat due to its fertile lands. The painter depicts probably one of the most distinctive Ukrainian motifs — the time of the harvest. When the kilometers of the rural lands are covered in a golden blanket of wheat. Same as in this painting. For the peasantry, the harvest was a dual thing — hard labor and a time for a celebration. Especially, when the harvest brought a great amount of wheat for the upcoming winter. Orlovsky was born in Kyiv, and he is considered one of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian Realist landscape painting tradition.

Toiling in the field by Ivan Pokhitonov

Pokhitonov was one of the members of the Peredvizhniki (The Wanderers) movement during the late 19th-century. Artists who represented this movement were masters of landscape paintings. Native Ukraine became one of the sources of inspiration for Pokhitonov. In this particular work, he depicts a summer landscape and a peasant who lonely cuts the grass in a field. The sky looks like the rain might come soon, but the work the peasant does has to be done in time.

The Dnieper in the morning (1881) By Arkhip Kuindzhi

Kuindzhi was another great example of the Peredvizhniki movement. He was born in Mariupol, and Ukrainian landscapes were often subjects of his artworks. Kuidzhi worked on this painting, using soft, light tones. A year later, he painted the Dnieper River, but in that work, he depicted one of the largest European rivers in the moonlight. This artwork was the last one Kuindzhi featured in the exhibitions. Afterward, he refused to display his works to the public eye.

Flood in the Village (1872) By Arseny Meshchersky

The work of Mechersky depicts a village that is suffering from floods (likely from the Dnieper River). The foundations of these houses have gone underwater, and only a few birds sitting in the woods are the only alive beings depicted in this work. While the Russian painter was a student of the Swiss painter Alexander Kalam, he also had a chance to travel a lot around Central Europe. Still, the landscapes of the Russian Empire captivated him, and Mechersky did several artworks, depicting Ukrainian nature. His works eventually earned appreciation in Russia, and in 1884, he became a professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts.

View near Lubni, Ukraine by Iosif Krachkovsky

Born in Warsaw, Iosif Krachkovsky did travels to Ukraine, and in this work, he depicted a peaceful rural scene nearby the Lubny — one of the oldest cities in Ukraine. It is a beautiful artwork that shows the nature that once surrounded the Cossack Regiments between the 18th — 19th-centuries. The only living soul in this quiet landscape is a man in the boat. However, the emphasis of this work was put on the beauty of nature.

Ox-carts in the Ukrainian steppe (1888) by Ivan Aivazovsky

Aivazovsky is one of the greatest marine painters in history. Most of his works were seascapes, but this work depicts peasants leading the ox-caravan in the Ukrainian steppe. In the background, you can see windmills in the plains. Half of the painting depicts the dust, and most of the caravan is hidden behind it. The dust almost overshadows the sun. An elderly man with a child stands nearby the road and watches as the caravan passes by. It is a fairly non-typical work by Aivazovsky, but it’s an eye-catching scene.

Ukrainian landscape with windmill (1882) by Volodymyr Orlovsky

Another brilliant work by Orlovsky features the Ukrainian landscape. As the title says, he depicted a windmill on the hill above the river and a village. A lone wanderer with a dog sits nearby the mill and enjoys the beautiful view. Orlovsky presented a well-detailed artwork, but unlike the one where he depicted the harvest, this scene has more calming and less bright colors. The horizon almost meshes together with the plains.

At the well (1886) by Iosif Krachkovsky

In this artwork, alongside nature, Krachkovsky depicts the typical Ukrainian peasants of the 19th-century nearby their house in the countryside. It is an evening scene as the sun is slowly going down behind the horizon. An unknown figure watches the girl, who is about to take the water from the well and bring it home. Krachkovsky painted a lovely everyday scene from the Ukrainian countryside. Its beauty hides in simplicity.

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