Thanks to Pam P.
Maria Prymachenko, A Dove Has Spread Her Wings And Asks for Peace, 1982
Have you heard of Maria Prymachenko? She was an internationally acclaimed self-taught artist who drew from traditional Ukrainian folk art. What distinguishes her works are bright colors and imaginative ornamental forms, often expressing the struggle between good and evil. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the timeliness of her pacifistic works could not be more powerful. Prymachenko’s exquisite artworks are currently shown in the Saatchi Gallery in London.
Prymachenko was born to a peasant family in 1908 in the Ukrainian village of Bolotnia, 30 km from Chernobyl, where she spent her whole life. Her family taught her a variety of traditional Ukrainian crafts such as embroidery and the traditional way of decorating Easter eggs (Pysanka). Later in life she used traditional Ukrainian patterns and mixed them with her amazing imagination. In 1937 she was awarded a golden medal at the Paris World Fair, where her appearance gathered a lot of attention. Pablo Picasso visiting a Prymachenko exhibition said:
I bow down before the artistic miracle of this brilliant Ukrainian.
The year 2009 was declared the Year of Maria Prymachenko by UNESCO. (continued)