On August 20, 2019, a themed exhibition “Rise of Ukrainian Spirituality” of graphic works by Ukrainian artists of the 1960s – 1970s was presented in O.O.Osmerkin Art-Memorial Museum. It was organized within the event of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921 and the 205th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko.
    The exposition of the exhibition consists of 13 graphic works on Shevchenko theme by famous artists of Ukrainian easel graphic work from the museum collection “Modern Ukrainian Fine Art”. People’s Artist of the USSR Mykhailo Derehus, Merited Art Worker of Ukrainian SSR and People’s Artist of Ukrainian SSR Oleksandr Danchenko, Merited Cultural Worker of Ukraine and People’s Artist of Ukraine Volodymyr Kutkin, People’s Artist of Ukraine Mykola Popov, a member of the Union of Artist of the USSR and a member of Los Angeles Art Association (the USA) Samuil Kaplan, a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR Vasyl Avramenko, members of the Union of Artists of the USSR and the National Union of Artists of Ukraine Hennadii Polovyi, Yurii Lohvyn, Anatolii Navrotskyi present the pages from life and creative work of Taras Shevchenko in illustrations of his works and landscape motifs of the places that inspired the genius of Ukrainian people. The original graphic art images became the classics of Shevchenkiana because the majority of the artists worked on the jubilee edition of “Kobzar” (1964) to the 150th anniversary of the poet.
    The exhibited graphic works got to the museum collection from a unique private collection of a doctor, war veteran Anatolii Chumachenko (1923-2013), who lived in our town for many years, worked in the Regional Sanitary and Epidemiological Station, was a high-achiever of Health Care of the USSR. During his studies in Kyiv Medical Institute named after O.O.Bohomolets, Anatolii Chumachenko got acquainted with the nephew of his wife – a graphic artist Anatolii Narotskyi (1934-2003), who graduated from Kyiv State Art Institute, was an art editor of the publishing house “Veselka”. Anatolii Chumachenko visited the artist’s studio, where young artists met and communicated with them because he was interested in the history of Ukrainian visual arts; and the artists presented him with his graphic works that turned into the collection with time.
    For the first time, the works were exhibited in the museum in 2005 at the exhibition “From the Artist’s Studio” (private collection of A.M.Chumachenko). After the exhibition, more than 30 works made in classic graphic techniques – etching, graving, woodblock printing, lithography, aquatint, and linocut, were presented by the Chumachenko family to the museum collection. The collection is peculiar for the demonstration of technical samples of graphic skills and discovering nearly all the genres of Ukrainian graphic art of the 1960s – the beginning of the 1970s.
    It is pleasant to note, that the first visitor of the exhibition was a famous Kropyvnytskyi artist and pedagogue Yurii Vintenko, who knows many of the exhibited artists personally, because his father Borys Vintenko, Merited Artist of Ukraine, was friends with them. His narration about the communication with the prominent artists of graphic art, in particular with the classic artist of Ukrainian graphic art, an active participant of the Sixtiers movement. People’s Artist of Ukrainian SSR, Oleksandr Danchenko, was very interesting and appropriate.