Ukrainian themes in domestic painting of the second half of XIX century – historical and cultural source of the post-impressionist repertoire between 1900 and 1940

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in researching the processes of international cultural exchange at the turn of XIX – XX centuries, which affected the formation of a new pro-European image of Ukrainian painting of XX century. Under the circumstances of Ukraine’s geopolitical disunity, the artists’ efforts were consolidated around the idea of creating their own national art. The activities of writers, ethnographers and historians contributed to the popularization of Ukrainian culture in society. While integrating into the field of painting, the knowledge about the Ukrainians’ folk customs has become an instrument of ethnic self-preservation. The objective of the article is to research the tendency of Ukrainization of thematic repertoire in painting of the second half of XIX century, which became a historical and cultural source of post-impressionist repertoire of the timeline: 1900–1940. So far such methods were applied to conduct the research covered by the article: chronological and historical - for reconstructing events of the researched period; iconographic – for systematizing the thematic repertoire; and comparative method – for clarifying the conceptual analogies between the features of Ukrainian and European artistic perception. The results of the research support the idea that the thematic repertoire of painting, which had been updated in the middle of XIX century, was being adapted on the basis of the plots of the Ukrainian followers of post-impressionism during the timeline 1900–1940. Based on the collected materials, the present results were significant in determining that the ideas of national identity were introduced by artists through the artistic synthesis with Ukrainian folklore and traditions of folk art. As a result of the research, we conclude that the national thematic repertoire which had formed at the turn of XIX – XX centuries, absorbed the national unity desiderata that are related to the future cultural strategy of the independent Ukraine of XXI century.